"I can't move."

A man was drifting along the infinite blackness of space. He appeared to almost be completely lifeless with his back curved.

Whatever must have happened to him left him unable to move and therefore unable to save himself.

He was clad in black and white tights with golden highlights on the sides. A name tag with the initials "Ryker" was pinned to his chest.

"How long have I been drifting in space, hours perhaps days? I can't tell. God! My mind is foggy, my Astro tech is almost fully drained and once it dries out, so will my astral skin and I'll die from lack of oxygen."

He tried to move his body in desperation but to avail...

"This paralysis is that witch's hex. Is this how my story ends? Am I fated to die a loser? That too at the hands of the people I served for over a decade!?"

More hours passed and Ryker's situation did not change.

"It's so cold." He imagined hugging his body to stay warm but alas that was all he could do, imagine.

"They dumped me way out here without a planet or celestial body insight."

Lost in his thoughts, he felt regret. Regret for being a loyal dog that served the bounty hunters association.

"Even though I was a weak C-Grade Bounty Hunter, I completed all my missions, I did all their biddings. Even the tasks that seemed too degrading for Hunters of a higher rank. I gave my all. So why?"

Why would the people he served without questioning turn their backs on him?

"I have all this rage yet I can't even clench my fist. All this rage yet there's nothing I can do."

Ryker was overtaken by the feeling of hopelessness. He wanted to take revenge on the people that backstabbed him. But life is cruel and we don't always get what we want.

Hours passed and Ryker's Astro tech had finally lost all power. His astral skin was thinning out and with that, he saw his life flash before his very eyes.

He was weak at this point to the extent that he could not even garnish a thought.

His mind was completely blank as his body loses life with every passing second.

Just then, a beam of light shone down on the seemingly lifeless body of Ryker. Completely engulfed in this radiance, his body was pulled up in the direction of where the light came from.

A black space cruiser floated above him as he was sucked into the shutter of the cruiser.

"My my, what do we have here?" A man wearing a brown coat stood in front of Ryker's body.

He bent down to check his pulse. He sighed in relief as he pulls out his hand from Ryker's neck.

"A few minutes more and you'd die from loss of oxygen."

He picked Ryker up and took him to a medical room where a female android wearing a nurse uniform stood in waiting.

"Patch him up will ya? He seems to be affected by a hex."

"Yes, captain."

Ryker was then stripped to his shorts and kept lying on a bed. She strapped him to the bed and injected several chords into his body.

"Jeez, do you plan on turning him into a human porcupine?"

A few minutes later...

"His pulses have stabilized captain," The female android said. "Although it would take an estimate of a day for his brain to regain all functionalities."

"Thank you, Ming. I'll take it from here."

The android bowed and left the room.

"You are one lucky bastard to have survive getting stranded in the middle of space Uhm..." The man checked the tag on Ryker's clothing.

"Ryker was it?" He got up and made his way to the exit.

"Only a select few could look death in the eyes like you did and survive. Rejoice for your new life, lad."

He finished leaving the unconscious Ryker alone in the room.

"Ming, we've wasted enough time already, set us back on course."

"Yes Sir."

"Next stop, Red Wine."

"Preparing thrusters for space warp. In 3...2...1..."

The cruiser released a blast of astral energy from its thrusters and displaces a couple of light-years ahead in the blink of an eye.

This was the power of a space warp. The power that revolutionized intergalactic travels and made the vast cosmos much smaller than it was.

A day has passed and Ryker was starting to regain consciousness.

He opens his eyes. Still weak, he scans the room he was in.

"I'm alive?" He said softly while sitting up.

"Am I in a cruiser? The designs don't look like any from the association perhaps it's a personal cruiser."

He removes the needles that were punctured into his body and released his strap.

Getting off the bed, Ryker stood up and immediately lost his balance, he felt dizzy.

"So hungry." He muttered weakly using the bed to support himself.

Just then, the door bursts open and the captain walks in carrying a tray with food in it.

"Rise and shine Snow-white!" The man exclaimed with a wide grin.

Ryker tilted his head and said; "Who the fuck are you?"