[Location: Planet Rumora — Sector 5 | Surface Temperature: 'Soup']
The sky shimmered like boiling oil.
The ocean wasn't water — it was clear golden broth, rolling and bubbling, smelling faintly of garlic and secrets.
Above it, floating islands of fried stalls and spice rafts drifted lazily, each one sizzling with gossip.
A battered shuttle descended, landing with a wet plop.
Steam rose as four familiar figures stumbled out.
ARIN SOL:
"Smell that? Adventure. Freshly sautéed."
LIRA (coughing):
"It smells like burnt truth and bagoong."
MANNY (flexing his gloves):
"Smells like opportunity."
EWAN (sniffing):
"Smells like cholesterol."
LIRA:
"Smells like four idiots who didn't pack deodorant for a soup planet."
1 — THE LEGEND
The group approached a floating dock — a chaotic bazaar of tempura ships and floating fish markets.
Billboards screamed "Catch your own lies! Fresh daily!"
A hologram flickered above them, narrating the legend:
"In the seas of Rumora swims the Rumorfish — a creature that whispers culinary truths. But beware: it only reveals secrets to those who lie best."
ARIN (grinning):
"Perfect. I lie all the time."
LIRA:
"That's not something to brag about."
MANNY:
"Forget the fish. We're wasting time. Ninang Rye said the Ultimate 15 Wagyu's real. It's the greatest meat ever made."
ARIN:
"Ninang Rye also said vinegar fixes heartbreak. She's clearly deranged."
MANNY:
"She's an icon! Her spatula once broke the time barrier!"
EWAN:
"Yeah, but she also once deep-fried a planet."
They all stopped.
LIRA:
"…Wait, what?"
EWAN (shrugs):
"Yeah. Still trending on SpaceTok."
2 — ARIN VS. MANNY
The argument had begun — and the broth beneath them started to bubble harder, as if eavesdropping.
MANNY (pounding fist into palm):
"We don't need gossip fish. We need that meat. The A555 Wagyu — that's where flavor lives."
ARIN (mock gasp):
"You'd believe a rumor from Ninang Rye? She's a walking kitchen apocalypse!"
MANNY:
"She's a legend!"
ARIN:
"She's a lawsuit waiting to happen!"
LIRA (interjecting):
"Both of you, stop yelling! You're seasoning the air with testosterone!"
EWAN:
"Too late, it's starting to caramelize."
The sea around them shimmered red — the broth reacting to the rising tension.
From beneath, something massive stirred.
3 — ENTER NINANG RYE
A stall emerged from the mist — huge, glowing.
Behind it stood Ninang Rye, stirring a pot the size of a crater. Steam formed into judgmental faces.
NINANG RYE:
"Well, if it isn't the Flavor Debt Committee. Still pretending you know how to cook?"
ARIN:
"Ninang Rye! I thought you were banned from the Federation!"
NINANG RYE:
"Ban? Child, I catered the hearing."
MANNY (grinning):
"Ninang! We came for your blessing!"
NINANG RYE (snapping):
"I don't give blessings. I give pressure cookers and opinions."
Her ladle clanged on the pot — CLANG! — thunder rolled across the broth.
NINANG RYE:
"Rumorfish? Bah! Waste of time. The real prize lies beyond the Fattened Nebula. A555 Wagyu. The meat that mooed at creation itself."
ARIN:
"That sounds fake."
NINANG RYE:
"So does your career."
Lira coughed into her sleeve to hide a laugh.
Arin glared. Manny looked vindicated.
MANNY:
"See? The Ninang hath spoken!"
ARIN:
"She also once claimed she dated Marco Pierre Infinity."
NINANG RYE (snapping):
"I mentored him! And scolded him for overcooking rice!"
The broth around them shimmered.
4 — THE WHISPERING SEA
Suddenly, ripples spread across the surface.
Voices emerged — faint whispers, like boiling secrets.
"Wagyu… fifteen flames… rumor or truth…"
Lira's eyes widened.
"The sea's reacting to us. The gossip here… it's sentient."
EWAN (uneasy):
"I don't like my broth talking back."
ARIN:
"This is it. This is where the Rumorfish hides."
He stepped toward the edge.
The broth brightened, glowing gold.
MANNY:
"Arin. Don't you dare."
ARIN (smirking):
"Don't you trust me?"
MANNY:
"No."
LIRA:
"Fair."
He dove in anyway.
5 — THE HALF-TRUTH
Silence.
Then — a hum. A ripple.
Bubbles shaped like words floated to the surface.
"The A555 Wagyu is real… but it feeds on lies."
Arin surfaced, gasping, clutching a glowing fish scale.
LIRA:
"Did you see it?"
ARIN:
"Not clearly. Just… whispers. Faces made of flavor."
MANNY:
"Or maybe your ego reflecting off the soup."
ARIN:
"At least my ego cooks evenly."
Manny stepped forward, glaring.
"Enough. I'm finding the Wagyu myself. You can stay here talking to soup."
He grabbed Ewan by the shoulder.
"Come on, we're chasing real meat."
EWAN (nervously):
"Can I at least finish my tempura shake—?"
MANNY:
"No time!"
They jumped aboard their ship — splashing broth over Arin and Lira as they took off.
6 — THE AFTERTASTE
Lira wrung out her sleeves. "They're going to die."
Arin watched the ship disappear into the horizon. The golden broth rippled again, and for a moment, he could've sworn the whispers laughed.
He turned the glowing fish scale over in his palm — engraved with faint words:
"Truth burns longer than meat."
He pocketed it.
"Guess we'll see who's right."
Lira sighed. "If you start narrating your own arrogance again, I'm leaving you here."
Arin grinned. "Ano, ayos? Ayos ba, Lira?"
She exhaled, defeated. "Ayos. Stupid, but ayos."
TO BE CONTINUED IN:
Chapter 5 — "The A555 Wagyu."
(a.k.a. "the meat that might end the multiverse or just be slightly overdone.")