Twenty-one years had passed since the unfortunate day of Xethé was leveled by Zurg's weapon, and nothing much changed on the planet. Its surface was cracked and marred, broken into deep canyons and jagged cliffs. The Galactic Alliance had tried to restore the planet, but their efforts were met with little success, so finally, they had abandoned the attempts.
All their other planets are doing well, except for the common crime. But the Space Rangers from Star Command could handle that just fine! Sometimes…
Today, it was a very quiet day and Team Lightyear was at their favorite diner, Cosmo's Cosmic Diner. They were sitting at their usual table, and Sally was taking their order.
"So, are you guys up to anything exciting today, Buzz?" she asked, typing down their order.
"No, Sally, there's nothing, in particular, today," Buzz responded. "We'll have to do paperwork after the lunch." Mira and XR groaned in unison.
"C'mon, Buzz!' Mira complained. "There's no fun in paperwork!"
"Why yes there is, Mira!" said Booster with a smile. "There's filing, and… writing… and uh…" He stopped there, rubbing his neck.
"Booster's right, Mira," Buzz affirmed. "Being a Space Ranger doesn't just mean going on exciting missions. There's paperwork that needs to be done."
"You're right, Buzz, as always!" Booster gushed to his idol.
"You're such a fanboy!" teased XR. "Hey, I'm not a fanboy! Take it back!" Booster yelled. "Yes, you are!" XR yelled back.
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"Guys, guys" Sally interrupted the two arguing friends. "Let's keep it nice, okay? There's no need to argue."
Buzz was about to chastise the two rookies for arguing when his wrist communicator started beeping and he had to answer a brief call from. When it was over, he turned to the waitress. "Sally, I'm afraid you'll have to cancel our order because we're needed at Star Command in the science bay." The others cheered but stopped at Buzz's warning look. "But what about lunch, guys?" whimpered Booster as they left the diner.
Sally sighed dreamily after they left. "Until later, Buzz." She sighed before she continued her work and helped the next customer.
"Ah, Lightyear! Glad you could make it in such short notice." Commander Nebula was staring at a giant screen when Team Lightyear walked into the room.
"You needed us, Commander?" Buzz asked as he strode up to Nebula.
"The LGM's received a video call from an old friend of yours." The Commander nodded at the LGM, who pressed some buttons on the vidphone. To the team's surprise, Brainpod 57 popped up on the screen.
"Hi, you guys!" 57 greeted. Booster waved back with a smile. "So, how is it going on the Mahambas VI beach, huh?" asked XR sarcastically. He couldn't help but feel envious. 57 ignored his comment. "Hello again, 57!" Buzz greeted the Brainpod. "What can we do for you?"
The Pod suddenly seemed nervous. He first looked around to see if anybody was listening, which was silly because there was no one else in the room with him. "It has something to do with Zurg." His voice was almost a whisper. "He's been keeping someone in prison for twenty-one years."
Mira inhaled a sharp breath at the news. How come we didn't notice this before?
"Can you tell anything about this prisoner, 57?" continued Buzz. The Pod gave a curt nod. "Yes. Her name is Nida, and she's a Xethaniän. She's twenty-one years old now."
The LGM's oooh'd in unison, and Nebula's mouth fell open. "A Xethaniän?" he yelled. "That's impossible! Their planet was devastated by the explosion of their moon twenty-one years ago! There were no survivors! An evacuation was impossible!"
57 nodded. "Except for Nida. She was saved by her parents who placed her in a small self-made spacecraft. The craft was kicked out of its course by the shockwave of the moon, and headed straight for Zurg's fleet."
Booster wiped a tear away. "So her parents died to save their daughter? That's… That's so sad…!' He started crying, and leaned on XR who comforted him. "Keep it together, won't ya Rookie?!" Nebula spat at him.
"She became my buddy over the years. She was raised by me, the other Pods, and the Grubs. Zurg made her train her powers as soon as she turned four. She trained every day. Every. Single. Day." 57 took a pause to catch his breath. "He's planning to use her as a deadly weapon to take over the galaxy, and when he doesn't need her anymore, he's sure to destroy her!" A pleading look entered his eyes. "Please Buzz, you have to save her - before it's too late! She's my best friend and a good child at heart!" Buzz made a gesture to stop him, and 57 stopped begging.
"We'll do anything we can to save her, 57! I'm giving you my word."
"Oh, thank you! Thank you so much, Buzz Lightyear! I hope you get her out of there safely."
"There's one more thing: Why haven't you told us about this… Nida… before?" Buzz asked, doubt evident in his tone of voice.
"Look, Zurg is still on to me! I was scared, okay!"
"We could have saved her while we were saving you if you told us this before!" Mira scolded the sad Pod on the screen. "You just wanted to save your own butt! You little-"
"Mira!" Booster chided, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Please. Calm down. This isn't helping anyone."
Mira sighed. "Yeah, you're right…" But she continued to glare at 57.
57 cast his eyes down in shame. "Look, I'm sorry. I would have done a lot differently if I'd have the chance to. I'd do a LOT of things so much differently…"
"It's alright, 57. We'll go save your friend." Buzz comforted the Pod. After ending the transmission, he turned to the LGMs. "Alright, guys - what can you tell us about the Xethaniäns?"
"They are like huuuumans, except for a few differences in appearance and their incredible poweeeeers." One of the little green men answered, drawing out his words in the characteristic style of his species.
"What are these "powers"?" asked XR.
"Using their minds to manipulate atooooms on a subatomic level, they can create water and plants simply by touching the grooooound. They also can beeeend the water, using it for fights, cooking, or even steeeeer boats. Xethé was a farming planet close to Jo-Ad."
"I've heard enough for now. We're going to get her out of there!" Buzz said firmly. "And we're going now!"
"HIYAAAA!" a female voice cried. She leaped forward, her leg outstretched, and collided with a hornet, knocking its yellow head off.
BLAM! The sound of exploding hornets echoed through the training room as she took out one robot after another. A bundle with water was tied around her waist, and the woman drew water from it, flinging it at the oncoming hornets. The velocity with which it flew was enough to break through the robots' thick metal casing, causing the water to go through their inner workings and short them out.
At last, the final hornet lay on the floor dead, and the woman crumpled against the wall to catch her breath. She wiped the sweat from her brow, panting in exhaustion but grinning triumphantly.
"You are done for today, Nida." a Grub told her, entering the training room.
Nida groaned. "But I was doing so well!" she whined
"The Evil Emperor wants to have lunch with you. You've got to freshen up."
Nida widened her eyes in surprise. "He wants have to lunch with me?"
The Grub sighed, irritated. "Yes, he has important things to discuss with you. Now clean yourself up, you look like a mess and the Evil Emperor does not like waiting!"
Nida scowled at him, then left the training deck. On the way to her private cabin, dozens of thoughts flew through her head. He wants to have lunch with me?! What should I even wear?!
She bumped into someone when she flew around the corner. "Auch, watch it!" she snapped. "What kind of dweeb runs in the hallway any-" Her mouth closed as she saw the metal arm in front of her, and when she looked up she could see a blue male smirking down on her.
"You'll probably mean yourself… You couldn't possibly mean me!" he chuckled sarcastically.
"Warp Darkmatter!" Nida gritted her teeth. Out of all people on Planet Z, she had to bump into him!
"Aww, you look so cute when you're angry." smirked Warp, as he reached out to grab her arm with his hand.
"Don't touch!" hissed Nida, firing a warning glare at him.
Warp simply raised his hands. "Just wanted to help, ya know."
Nida stood up and dusted her suit off with furious sweeps. "I don't need any help. I'm on my own." she said firmly, still scowling at Warp. She couldn't stand him. He was always trying to flirt, and she hated it. No one was allowed to flirt with her. "If you don't mind, I have to freshen up now, for I have a lunch with the Evil Emperor himself!" Her tone was proud and bragging.
"So what if he wants to lunch with you?' Warp cocked an eyebrow at her. "No big deal. I'll be attending that lunch as well." Nida closed her eyes as she groaned with disappointment, making Warp smirk. As he walked away he called, "You should wear that dark purple dress with the capital Z on it. That one looks great on you."
Nida watched him as he left. "Creep!" she muttered. She then quickly slipped into her cabin, locking the door behind her.
Meanwhile, Team Lightyear was flying near the Zeta Quadrant.
"I'm curious to know what this person we're saving looks like," remarked XR. "She could be dating material!" He rubbed his knuckles over his metal chest, a small arrogant smile on his face. Mira gave him a quick glance and rolled her eyes, scoffing.
Booster looked up from his monitor, smiling. "I kinda know what a Xethaniän looks like!" he told them. "They have ears like fish, but they don't have gills, and their hair looks like a Mohawk, but it actually isn't hair – it's part of their head and skin. They don't have a nose, and their usual skin color is a light, greenish yellow." He stopped to catch his breath, then continued, "Their skin colors can vary into other colors, though. One of the rarest Xethaniän skin colors is sea blue and a yellow that is so light it's almost white."
Mira and Buzz looked at him with surprise and awe. "How do you know all this, Booster?" asked Mira out of curiosity.
"My Ma and Pa were close friends with a family of Xethaniäns. I was really young, only two, when…" He swallowed. "Zurg killed everyone on the planet." He looked sadly at his monitor. "Ma and Pa were devastated and were mourning for the loss of their dear friends a long time. They talked about them a lot - and about their new-born daughter."
Nobody said anything. Finally, Buzz cleared his throat. "And… did your parents ever mention the names of this family, Booster?"
Booster looked up, thinking. "I believe their names were Gloria and Torrance Eudoll, and their child… I can't remember. Just that it ended with an A"
XR waved his hand dismissively. "I don't want to interrupt this "touching story" but we just entered the Zeta Quadrant." Right after XR mentioned it, Booster's screen started to beep and lit up red.
"The alarm buoys caught us Buzz! Hornets are on to us!" he yelled.
"I'm already aware of that, Booster!" Buzz pointed at the window. Hornets were flying beside the ship, furiously firing at it.
"Buzz, we should have used the launch tubes to get near Planet Z!" Mira stated angrily. "It isn't possible to get closer than this!"
"Mira, I know exactly what I'm doing!" Buzz declared. "Booster, ready the guns of the ship. Let's take down those hornets first!"
Booster saluted. "Yes, sir!"
Giant guns appeared on the side of the ship, firing and taking down every single hornet. When they were finished, the shooting had stopped and Booster, XR, and Mira cheered.
"Let's not celebrate too early, team!" Buzz interrupted them. "More may be on the way." However, as they came closer and closer to Planet Z, none appeared, and without any trouble, they landed. The team climbed out of the star cruiser, still very much alert.
"This is very odd…" Booster scratched his head. "They should be on to us already." He gasped. "Wait, what if this is-"
"A trap? Good question, Rookie!" they heard a very familiar voice chuckle. Spinning around, the team found themselves staring at Warp and a squadron of hornets. "Nice to see you guys again, after such a long time. It's been too long!" Warp aimed his laser at them.
"Same goes for you, buddy! We should definitely hang out more. Did you get a new haircut, by the way? Looks good on you." XR smiled sarcastically
"Glad you noticed." was Warp's snarky response.
In the meantime, Nida had cleaned herself up and she looked in the mirror with a proud smirk. Then she opened the closet and grabbed the dark purple dress with the capital Z on it that Warp had mentioned.
I'm not gonna wear this! she thought. It would please Warp! She threw the dress with disgust on her bed. "I'm just gonna wear my best suit instead."
She had just made this decision when she heard some ruckus going on outside. She opened the tiny curtain in front of the only window in her cabin. Outside she saw Warp and some hornets aiming at a bunch of people.
Finally, some real action! she grinned and loaded her gun. Then, smirking with anticipation, she rushed outside. "Need some help?" She approached Warp and the Hornets from behind, toying with the gun in her hand.
"What are you doing here?" Warp hissed annoyed, still aiming at Team Lightyear. "I want to play too!" Nida smiled sweetly, still playing with the gun in her hands.
XR whistled when Nida arrived, and Booster was surprised to find himself staring in awe at her. She had to be about 5'7 feet inches. She was wearing a worn and beaten space suit with a capital Z on her chest. Her skin was light blue and her mohawk a light green, both colors complimenting each other perfectly. She stared at them with the most beautiful orange eyes he'd ever seen, the "white" of her eyes actually a soft yellow. His lips curled into a goofy smile without realizing it, his cheeks flushing a bright shade of red.
"Why helloooh!" XR waggled his eyes. "What is such a lovely and beautiful girl such as yourself doing in a place like this?"
Nida looked at him with a raised eyebrow, then smiled. "How cute, a tin toy!" Then she aimed at him. "So sad I have to blast you to pieces." XR was startled when she aimed the gun at him but quickly recovered. "Hey! I'm not a tin toy!" he spat.
"Go back inside, Nida!" Warp commanded.
"Nida?" Booster repeated to himself quietly. He had been distracted by her looks for a little while but came back to reality after hearing her name.
"Like I said, Darkmatter, I want to play too!" argued Nida stubbornly. "You always get the fun around here! It's my turn now!"
Buzz took advantage of the distraction. Aiming his laser with a precision that came with years of experience, he fired two shots in quick succession, blasting the guns out of Nida and Warp's hands.
"Hey!" Nida glared at him as Team Lightyear went into action. Booster grabbed a hornet by its legs, and spun around with it, taking out some of the other Hornets in the process. XR popped out all his guns and began blasting the Hornets. Nida saw Warp flee, and decided to try and follow him unnoticed.
"Not so fast, little missy!" Buzz yelled while he and Mira aimed their lasers at her, and, pouting, she raised her hands in the air.
"Are you really gonna shoot me?" she asked sarcastically.
"Not if you don't make any trouble." Mira lied. Of course they'd never really do that, but she doesn't have to know this. Booster and XR took place beside them, also aiming.
Nida quickly glanced at the bundle of water tied around her waist, and Buzz followed her eyes and nodded to the bundle.
"What's in there?" he asked shortly. "You wanna find out, Mr. Lightyear?" Nida asked with an innocent smile.
"Sure, why not!" said Booster, looking curious. The others scowled at him. "What is it?" asked Booster, his ears flattened. "Something I said?" Nida reached for the bundle with both hands. Buzz aimed his wrist laser at her, the red light on his wrist glowing dangerously.
"Fre-" "I know, I know…" Nida interrupted him with an innocent smile. She then opened the bundle and blasted out a stream of water at Team Lightyear, using her powers to freeze the liquid before they could even blink. The frozen water didn't cover them entirely, leaving their heads ice free except for XR who was frozen entirely. "Freeze!" Nida smiled proudly.
"Hey, that's not fair!" Booster pouted. "You tricked us!"
'Too bad!' Nida laughed. She pushed on a button on her suit, and a jetpack appeared. 'Catch me if you can!' she yelled as she flew away from the frozen team.
Booster flexed his muscles and grunted, straining against the ice until it broke. It only took a few seconds. Once he was free, he tried to break out the rest of the team, but Buzz shook his head. "Go after her!" he ordered. Booster looked uncertain. "We'll be fine. Don't let her get away!"
Booster gave a curt nod, then took off after Nida. "Stop right there, Nida!" he yelled as he began to catch up with her. "You have to come with us!"
"How did you get here so soon?!" retorted Nida. She was surprised that he'd broken free from the ice so quickly, and maybe… even a little impressed. "Still angry about the ice, Tubby?"
Booster's mouth fell open. "Tubby?!" He glowered at her. "That's it!" He aimed his laser and shot right into her jetpack.
"HEY!" yelled Nida. The jetpack malfunctioned, and she fell down with a loud scream. Booster flew right after her, and when he was a few meters under her, he simply held his arms out wide. With a loud scream, she landed in his broad arms.
"Oomph!" Nida wheezed, and looked confused when she noticed she'd fallen into something kinda soft, and when she looked up, she saw this weird ranger-boy staring down at her with a frown. Dark brown pupils bore into her and she was a little mesmerized before struggling to break free.
"Looks like I've caught a damsel in distress!" he joked, tightening his grasp on her so she couldn't escape.
"Let me go!" she yelled, struggling harder and kicking her legs.
"Hey, stop that, would you?!" This girl was strong despite her skinny posture. Booster was struggling to hold on to her.
"I said LET ME GO!" Nida was screaming now. She squirmed with her arm, accidentally hitting the button on Booster's chest. The jets activated, and the pair shot upwards. Booster's jetpack reached an incredibly high speed and got completely out of control. Realizing the situation, they both shrieked. "NEVERMIND, DON'T LET GO, DON'T LET GO!" Nida cried, terrified, wrapping her arms around his neck as best as she could.
"IT'S OUT OF CONTROL!" Booster panicked. To their horror, they were rapidly approaching a building. "LOOK OUT!" Nida hid her face in Booster's chest. He turned his back to the building and braced for impact. They crashed into the building with a painful thud, falling down to the ground as Booster's jetpack was exploded from the impact. Nida hit her head on a pipe and Booster fell on his behind.
Booster coughed, waving the smoke of the rubble away with his hands. He rose to his feet carefully and dusted himself off before looking up at the big hole he made in the wall. He whistled to himself. They got lucky.
"Whew, that was a close call, wasn't it…?" Booster sighed with relief, rubbing his slightly sore head. But no response came. "Hey… You okay there?" he worriedly asked Nida. She didn't say anything. She lay with her face turned to the wall, not moving. Booster carefully approached her, his lips quivering fearfully, and shook her shoulder gently. Nida rolled onto her back, her eyes closed and her mouth half open. Blue blood was trickling down from a wound on her head. Booster gasped, holding a hand before his mouth in shock. "Oh no!"
