You're my Sunshine

This takes place in Florida because duh, the Kennedy Space Center is located in Cape Canaveral, FL. And how my imagination back then in 2010 told me that half of the cast of MFB lives in Florida since I found that extremely fitting and fun.

Helios’s surname Ryuzaki is actually inspired by one of my characters from my own original anime / manga series: Dragoma Inferno. Under his Fandom Tropes profile, he’s nicknamed the Sun Dragon so I thought of Ryuzaki as the perfect surname for him. Helios’ hobbies include surfing, drinking Celsius (his favorite energy drink) and watching space documentaries and TV shows (For all Mankind is one of them). His favourite surf tubers on YT are both Brad Jacobson (It’s so funny to see surfers tumble over) and Ben Gravy (His surf vlogs are amazing!) He also drives a 2008 Super Red Toyota Solara SLE convertible (Sol in Solara, Sun - get it?)

“When you lost your parents, your world fell apart.”

“You have these... visions of impending hell on Earth because that’s how you feel inside.”

“Blazing across like darkness and fire.”

“My name is Helios Pherae.”

The voice echoed through the darkness.

“I was born in the town of Velestino, district of Magnesia, Greece, where the stories of gods and heroes were passed from one generation to the next. They named me after the sun itself... a name that once filled me with pride.”

A lone figure stood against a crimson sunrise overlooking the Aegean Sea. His silver hair fluttered in the morning breeze while a red bandanna danced around his neck. The orange glow reflected from his blue green eyes as though the rising sun recognized him.

“Some days...”

Helios lowered his head.

“I don’t know who I am anymore.”

Memories blurred together like shattered glass.

A frightened child.

A devoted grandson.

A prisoner.

An astronaut.

A police officer.

A father.

A husband.

Every chapter of his life felt disconnected, each version of himself fighting for control.

He slowly clenched his gloved fist.

“But I know one thing.”

His expression hardened.

“I’m going to destroy the Sunfoot Cult.”

Years earlier...

Rain battered the black waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

Towering waves slammed against the hull of an enormous luxury yacht as lightning split the sky overhead. Cloaked figures stood silently on the rain-soaked deck, their crimson robes whipping violently in the wind.

Not one of them spoke.

They simply stared ahead.

Then...

The sea trembled.

Ancient stone pillars emerged from beneath the waves.

Broken temples slowly rose from the ocean floor, shedding centuries of seawater like forgotten giants awakening from a long sleep.

An entire city revealed itself. Weathered marble. Collapsed courtyards. Statues eroded by time. Massive staircases disappearing into darkness.

The yacht glided silently toward an ancient harbor untouched by modern civilization.

The Sunfoot Cult had arrived.

Helios stepped onto the soaked stone pier beside dozens of cult members.

He couldn’t have been older than sixteen.

His silver hair was shorter then.

His eyes lacked confidence.

He followed the others without question.

At the front walked an elderly man wrapped in a blue and silver ceremonial cloak embroidered with feminine mermaid designs.

Bakim Pherae.

Helios’ grandfather.

To the outside world...

A brilliant explorer.

An engineer.

A philanthropist.

A visionary fascinated by history and space exploration.

To those who truly knew him...

He was something far darker.

The procession entered a forgotten temple.

Stone torches ignited one after another with blue flames, illuminating a corridor that seemed to stretch forever.

The silence was suffocating.

Only footsteps echoed through the ancient hallway.

Every few meters stood towering statues of warriors holding dragon-shaped shields.

Some had crumbled.

Others still stared with empty stone eyes.

At the corridor’s end rested an enormous circular stone door carved with dragons spiraling around a blazing sun.

Bakim smiled.

Slowly, he reached beneath his cloak.

A crimson Dragonstone emerged.

Its center shimmered with deep ocean blue.

Dark Poseidon.

The air vibrated.

He pressed the Dragonstone into a circular recess carved into the ancient seal.

The temple groaned.

Stone gears hidden for thousands of years began turning.

Dust poured from the ceiling.

The chamber slowly opened.

Inside...

Resting upon a marble pedestal...

Was another Dragonstone.

Unlike Dark Poseidon, it glowed with warm golden light.

Its core burned like a miniature star.

The Dragonstone of the Sun.

Sol Blaze.

Bakim’s eyes widened with reverence.

His voice trembled.

“After thousands of years...”

He laughed.

“...I have found you.”

He turned toward Helios.

“Grandson.”

Helios looked up.

“Take it.”

“What?”

“I SAID TAKE IT!”

The command echoed through the chamber.

Helios hesitated.

His fingers slowly wrapped around the warm Dragonstone.

The instant his skin touched it—

A deafening roar erupted throughout the temple.

The floor shook violently.

A pillar of scarlet light exploded upward.

It tore through the temple ceiling.

Through ancient marble.

Through collapsing stone.

High above the island...

The beam erupted into the storm clouds like a second sunrise.

Red light engulfed the heavens.

Lightning twisted around the pillar of energy.

Bakim threw his arms toward the sky.

“YES!”

His laughter became almost animalistic.

“AT LAST!”

“Now the shining sun is ours. Soon we will fulfill all of the conditions. And with the power of Sol Blaze, we will build a new Atlantis!”

That single moment changed everything.

Not just for Helios...

But for the world.

Years passed.

Bakim continued building his empire beneath the public’s gaze.

To the media, he remained a celebrated explorer, engineer, and visionary.

Hidden behind charitable foundations and maritime research projects, however, he pursued an entirely different ambition.

He founded the Sunfoot Cult.

Its followers believed humanity had abandoned its purpose.

That civilization had become irredeemably corrupt.

That only a great purification could restore balance.

Bakim promised them eternal salvation.

Far from public scrutiny, another masterpiece slowly took shape.

The Space Ark.

Despite its name, it was not a spacecraft.

It was an immense ocean-going vessel, so large that many compared it to an aircraft carrier.

Anchored near Atlantis Island off the Florida coast, it was presented to the world as a cutting-edge maritime research vessel.

Inside, however, it served a far darker purpose.

It was the beating heart of the Sunfoot Cult.

Its bridge coordinated clandestine operations around the globe.

Its laboratories housed engineers and scientists developing technologies for the cult’s apocalyptic plans.

Hidden archives stored forbidden manuscripts, astronomical observations, and centuries of accumulated research.

Deep within the Ark lay Bakim’s private sanctuary—a magnificent Victorian-style library lined with towering bookshelves and illuminated by warm lantern light. There he studied ancient prophecies, celestial mechanics, meteor trajectories, and forgotten histories, convinced he had been chosen to reshape the fate of humanity.

To his followers, the Space Ark represented hope and deliverance.

To the outside world, it appeared to be nothing more than a mysterious research vessel.

Helios grew older.

The cult expected him to inherit Bakim’s vision.

Instead...

He witnessed what that vision demanded.

Families torn apart.

Lives manipulated.

Violence justified in the name of destiny.

For the first time, Helios questioned everything he had been taught.

He walked away.

He chose another path.

Not power.

Not domination.

Protection.

He became a police officer.

Rather than rule through fear, he swore to uphold the law.

Every investigation brought him closer to the truth behind the Sunfoot Cult. Patiently, he gathered evidence, tracked financial networks, interviewed witnesses, and worked alongside fellow officers and federal investigators to expose the organization from the inside out.

The conspiracy that had begun in an ancient temple was finally beginning to unravel.

Bakim’s final plan dwarfed everything that had come before.

Using the resources of the Space Ark and the shuttleAtlantis II, the Sunfoot Cult prepared to redirect a catastrophic meteor toward Earth.

Once the disaster was unleashed, Bakim intended to abandon the planet with his inner circle, leaving billions to face the devastation.

To him, it was not murder.

It was judgment.

The day of reckoning arrived.

Alarms blared through the Space Ark.

Cult members rushed through steel corridors as emergency lights flashed overhead.

In the Ark’s grand Victorian library, surrounded by towering shelves and centuries of forbidden knowledge, Helios stood face-to-face with his grandfather one final time.

Bakim looked upon his grandson with disappointment rather than anger.

“You still don’t understand,” he said quietly. “Humanity has squandered every gift it has been given. The world deserves judgment. And it shall perish. Atlantis will govern every corner of this world.”

Helios met his gaze without flinching.

“No.”

The single word echoed through the library.

“Earth deserves another chance.”

The doors burst open.

Police officers.

Federal agents.

Allied tactical teams.

They flooded into the chamber, weapons trained on the cult leadership.

Across the Ark, cult members surrendered or were taken into custody.

A cluster of officers were fighting against Poseidon while ushering Helios to head towards the shuttle. At the launch pad, he hopped into the Pilot’s seat while Nick was Commander on Flight Deck, prepared for the launch. Remotely controlled by another official from the Ark’s Control Tower, the shuttle blasts off, tearing through the atmosphere. The rest of Helios’ friends (along with the Sunfoot Soldiers) watched in surprise, cheering him on. With its rocket boosters and external tank ejected, the shuttle soared in orbit towards the Adonis asteroid speeding towards Earth.

Geared up in spacesuits, Helios and Nick utilized the shuttle’s Canadarm after the cargo bay and payload doors opened, entering their official EVA spacewalk.

Supported by robotic arms, they stared at the large asteroid in bright hope before launching Blaze. Both dragonstones cracked and shattered the asteroid, rendering a beautiful explosion that was viewed from Earth. Morphed into another copy of the Sun. Gleaming bright orange and yellow over the skyline of the world. It was a magnificent and exhilarating view according to Helios’ friends.

Released from the arms, Nick clutched onto the right tail rudder, holding onto Helios while he tags along. After a few minutes of orbiting through the smaller asteroid path, the two re enter the shuttle’s cargo bay before the payload doors close. Its external boost thrusters located on the mid deck nose cone begin to position the shuttle before it boosts towards the Earth, re entering the atmosphere.

After praising Nick for his company, that’s when I realized it was my first time in space. I had no astronaut training, no certifications, no instructors to aid on this mission. It was only I and Nick alone along with helpful voice guidance from the Control Tower.

That’s when my love for becoming an astronaut forged within the deep depths of my heart. Ever since I was little, I visited Florida with my grandfather Bakim. Fell in love with the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. I was in a lovestruck trance with the colossal rockets on display and massive launch pad movers. I got some souvenirs as well from the gift shop. A blue NASA baseball cap, an Apollo 11 enamel pin, and a white astronaut print shirt were the only souvenirs that I kept during my childhood.

And today there I am, in my very own office at the Operations Support building II, overlooking the beautiful backdrop of Kennedy Space Center and the Floridian wildlife.

Graceful Herons soared over the blue-green everglades style lakes that scattered across the emerald plains of KSC. Several platform trucks transported a mighty space shuttle in regards to repairs. Ants of tiny people walked about, grazing near the studious complex: hundreds of attractions, space memorials, and gift shops to explore.

It’s been 5 years since the asteroid fiasco. With a space blue coffee cup in hand (the NASA meatball logo glowed with shining honesty) and a starry galaxy tie lopsided over my light blue polo. My deep sapphire blue eyes crinkled in thought, a small frown on my pale face. I sighed in sorrow, wondering where everything went on from there.

Where was everyone after mission STS 136? The famed Atlantis II stood on Launch Complex 39, waiting prior to the T minus countdown. The majestic spaceship carried us from Earth to the ISS in a matter of 8 min before returning back to ground like a normal plane in a matter of an hour. We were tasked to install the MRM1 (Mini Research Module 1) beside the Cupola, the observatory deck of the ISS. It was like a wistful dream. A memorable vacation through space.

It was time that I hosted a small party at my nice little townhouse on Sailfish Avenue. To reunite with my crewmates.

I stared at my dragonstone, Sol Blaze. The little sun gleamed back as if it read my mind.

The same flaring sun that had witnessed the beginning of his journey now shone upon its end.

He finally understood who he was.

Not the heir to a cult.

Not the successor to an empire built on fear.

He was Helios Pherae— son of Leonidas and Rhea, a protector of others, and the man who had chosen the light over the darkness.

To be honest, my original plot that is loosely based off of the MFB movie is more entertaining than the movie itself.

Falco276 out. :)