It was the day after the destruction of Dominator's bot army and ship when Wander and Sylvia were making their way between planets enclosed in their usual orbble juice air bubble. Unusually, Wander wasn't strumming his banjo while atop his friend Sylvia's saddle.

"Hey pal, awfully quiet back there. Not feeling up to playing today?" Sylvia asked.

"Sorry Sylvia, it's just that I've been wondering if Dominator is okay" Wander revealed.

"Dominator!?" Sylvia repeats surprised. "D-don't worry about her, I'm sure she can take care of herself."

"Without her ship?" Wander asks. "Or any of her bots?"

"The ships and bots she tried to destroy the galaxy with!" Sylvia reminds urgently.

"What if she's scared? Or hurt? All alone with no one to call her friend!" Wander says before slapping his forehead. "That's it! How could I have forgotten!?"

"What's that buddy!?" Sylvia asks.

"When I was on Dominator's ship the day it was destroyed, I learned that she wasn't in need of a romance with Hater. What she really needed was just a friend!"

"..Oh no" Sylvia laments. "Are you going where I think you're going with this?"

"I will be that friend!" Wander declares triumphantly.

-=episode title=-

THE FRIEND

-=episode title=-

"Of course" Sylvia says pessimistically. "Wander, sometimes you just gotta know when it's time to quit while you're ahead! Dominator was all about destroying the galaxy! With her ship and bot army gone, the last thing you or I want is for her to make a comeback!"

"But an enemy is just a friend you haven't made yet Syl! This could be the opportunity of a lifetime!" Wander says optimistically.

"Or the end of our lifetimes" Sylvia returns before hearing the sound of a whimper. "D-don't give me those eyes!"

Wander's big and moist puppy dog eyes were staring up at Sylvia.

"Oh Grop help me! You know I hate it when you give me the puppy eyes!"

Wander continues his whimpering and tearful eye routine unabated.

"Alright! Alright! Fine!" Sylvia surrenders. "We'll give it a shot. But the instant things go wrong is the instant we're bailing. Understood?"

Wander gives Sylvia a wide and toothy smile before nodding happily.

After a moderate trek, Wander and Sylvia arrive to a largely desolate planet left so by Dominator's destructive rampage of not-so-long ago.

"There's so much wreckage" Sylvia says while drifting across the sky surveying the planet surface from within their bubble. "You really think she'd be around here?"

"Well, this planet has wreckage by the ton" Wander answers. "If I were her, the very first thing I'd be trying to do is get my bots and ship back."

"Trying to get her army back so she can get back to destroying the galaxy no doubt!" Sylvia suspects.

"No, she just wants company and her bots have been her only company for so long!" a very sympathetic Wander corrects. "Dominator is really just a lonely soul, Syl."

The two land and begin a search on foot.

"I'm willing to bet she's taking shelter in the remnants of her ship" Wander speculates.

"Makes sense" Sylvia responds simply. "Tell you what: you search on foot, I'll continue up above."

"Good idea" Wander says.

"Let me know if you run into any trouble pal" Sylvia says before ascending in a bubble.

"Sure thing Sylvia" Wander agrees and the two split up.

Initially, Wander only ran into small fragments of Dominator's ship, broken down Dominator bots, as well as disorderly heaps of mangled metal. After 15 minutes of searching, Wander comes to a portion of Dominator's ship that was still intact.

Looking in through one of the windows, Wander finds what looked to be an improvised workshop of sorts. At a table sat a Dominator bot in disrepair and opened up as though it were being worked on.

Wander was about to venture into the workshop only to be stopped as Dominator herself, a pale-green skinned alien with white hair that's been shaved into a lengthy mohawk, walked into view prompting Wander to take cover. Though in her usual outfit, the outfit was in a poor and torn state, a result of yesterday's previous battle. In her mouth was a tube of space food labeled "insta-lunch".

"O-okay! There she is!" Wander tells himself while in cover. "Okay! Ready the friendship basket!" he says pulling out a basket of food out of his hat. "I might get only one shot at turning Dominator good! Gotta do it right!"

"Stupid bot! Work!" Dominator growls after tinkering further with the broken Dombot.

The sound of door knocking is heard.

"Wh-what was that!?" Dominator asks looking around frantically. "Who's there!? Show yourself!" she demands still seeking the source of the sound while wielding a large wrench. "Oh! The door! Duh!" she says smacking her forehead.

Outside, Wander knocks on the door a second time only to have the door to Dominator's workshop fall in.

"Oh. It's you!" Dominator directs at Wander. "The orange weirdo!"

"Howdy Dominator!" Wander greets. "I was just in the neighborhood and was wondering if you'd care to partake in a friendship basket with me! What do you say?" he questioned, a wide smile on his face and food basket in hand.

"Ooh~! How tempting~! A friendship basket! Aren't you the sweetest?" Dominator mocks. "How aDORKable! I'm just gagging here! Here's what I think of your cute little basket" she says before taking her insta-lunch tube and pouring its dull and gray contents into the basket and even atop Wander's head. "Now please excuse me while I go BARF!" she shouts before lifting the door and slamming it shut in Wander's face. "Now buzz off, dork! I'm not your friend!" she says and then stomps away.

"...That could have gone better" Wander thought to himself. He then gives the insta-lunch a taste. "That could have tasted better too" he remarks. Looking around, he noticed several tubes of insta-lunch. "Is that all she's been eating? That's no good!.. But it's giving me an idea!"

Dominator returned to her work of repairing her Dombot, a task made difficult since many of her tools had either been lost or compromised by her ship's destruction.

"Alright you stupid thing" Dominator says lifting her bot up. "Now work!"

The Dombot lights up as though on the cusp of coming to life only to malfunction and slump back down.

"Agh! Darn it!" Dominator lets out before tossing the bot away in anger. "...I need a break" she says after collapsing atop her work table.

That's when it hits her: a very delicious smell. Where it was coming from she was not sure but the very enticing smell sends her off sniffing the air trying to find the source of the delectable aroma. In her pursuit of the source, she finds herself wandering around the ruins of her ship sniffing the air throughout.

"Wh-what are you doing here!?" Dominator demanded loudly after coming across an apron-wearing Wander who had set up a large pot of soup atop a roaring wood fire.

"What's it look like?" Wander asks standing before the pot of boiling soup. "I'm cooking of course! Soup's almost finished! Would you like some?" Wander asks presenting Dominator with a bowl of very hearty and delicious-smelling soup.

"N-no! No I don't want any of your loser dork soup!" Dominator objects. "I want you to get lossfzt!"

"What was that last part?" Wander questions.

"Ahem! I said I want you to gedt loafsd!"

"Pardon?" Wander asked again.

Dominator spins around to wipe away the drool that was now overflowing in her mouth.

"I said get lost!" Dominator finally gets out.

"Oh!.. Very well then" Wander agrees. "I shall get lost. Soup and all."

"No! Leave the soup there!" Dominator demands. "C-consider it rent for using MY ruins for your dorky little cooking!"

"Okay, makes sense!" Wander agrees. "If you'd like more, don't be afraid to ask!"

"Yeah yeah yeah! Go away now!" Dominator said swiftly lifting up the pot of soup and carrying it inside with her.

"Okay pal! And remember! It never hurts-"

Slam! Dominator slams the door to her makeshift home shut.

"-to help..." Wander finishes saying now left alone outside. He does not stick around long and rejoins Sylvia.

"You made her soup?" Sylvia asked while the two camped a fair distance away from the remnants of Dominator's ship.

"Yep!" Wander confirms while tending to a fresh batch of soup for himself and Sylvia.

"What for?"

"I'm just trying to show her the value of friendship!" Wander explains while pouring a generous helping of soup into the cup in Sylvia's hand. "And you know what they say! The fastest way to a friend's heart is through their stomach!"

"I think the saying goes 'the fastest way to a man's heart is through their stomach'" Sylvia corrects.

"It's the same general idea" Wander says before sipping from his cup. "Never hurts to help!"

"Never hurts to help. That's so like you" Sylvia says before drinking some of her soup. "This soup is absolutely delicious by the way! If you're trying to turn Dominator good, this soup is certainly a good start!"

"Thank you! I'll try my best!" Wander says.

"I know you will pal! And I'll watch your back the whole way!" Sylvia assured.

Meanwhile, back in Dominator's temporary home, Dominator was thoroughly enjoying the soup Wander had provided.

"How!? How is that loser so good at cooking!?" Dominator asked spooning up another helping of the soup in the pot. "Oh yes!" she lets out. "Yes! Just too good!" she exclaims pounding the table upon which the pot rested.

Dominator made quick work of the pot of soup and before she knew it, it was gone.

"That... Was good... Was too good..." Dominator said while relaxing atop what remained of her throne. "...There's no going back to this now" Dominator says glaring at a tube of insta-lunch in her hand. "...I wonder what else that little orange idiot can cook? Okay you little orange dweeb, I mean... ffffffrrriiendddd~" Dominator says, the last word said very sarcastically, "let's find out what else you can make and it better be good or else I'll be destroying you and that Zbornak buddy of yours next chance I get!" Dominator threatens after freezing the insta-lunch and crushing it to bits with a lava grip before launching into one of her trademarked maniacal fits of laughter.

Author's note: So that's chapter one. Chapter two in the works or it may already be done! Please read and review, thanks!