Fallen angels at my feet

Whispered voices at my ear

Death before my eyes

Lying next to me I fear

She beckons me

Shall I give in

Upon my end shall I begin

Forsaking all I've fallen for

I rise to meet the end

Splotches of light bubbled across Mira's field of vision. She felt the energy trickling out of her cells, awareness disappear from her reach. "It's all over now," the detached thought traveled through her mind. As Mira braced herself to enter into the deepest sleep of her life, she was vaguely aware that someone, or something, was pumping energy back into her systems, trying to revive her body before her spirit slipped away.

As she was going in and out of consciousness, she caught onto little pieces of information here and there. There were the choppy sounds of screams, flickering black curtains edging out of her field of vision (the Grim Reaper maybe?), thick hands carrying her away, and then being stuck with needles, plastic suction cups, and other monitoring devices, and even a warm smooth hand squeezing her own. She tried to pull it away, to say the grip was too tight, but her lips wouldn't obey. She was frozen, trapped within the depths of her mind. "Got to stay awake," she struggled against the wave of exhaustion. "Got to warn the others," she closed her eyes, succumbing to the darkness. Lights out.


In the palace, King Nova was strolling about his palace, giving orders left and right, "I want the flowers arranged over there, no not by the hideous doors we had to cut in for those inept space monkeys, by the other wonderfully arranged bouquet of traditional Tangean floral life. And WHO left this poster of Star Command in my little girl's room? Did I not order for all of them to be vanquished as the trash they are? Am I surrounded by incompetent grounders or Tangeans? I don't even know anymore!" The royal was being exceptionally snobby today, even by Tangean standards, but no one dared raise their voice against him. Not on this day.

"I'll be in my chambers if anyone needs me." King Nova elaborated, "Do me a favor and DON'T need me." Without waiting for a response from his subjects, he transformed into an electric ball of light blue energy, ghosting through the walls with such speed that one could almost swear he turned into a lightning bolt instead.

Once inside the privacy of his inner sanctum, he lost the air of superiority he usually wore, instead drooping his shoulders slightly, his eyes staring off into the distance. He absentmindedly felt the wedding band in his puffy back pocket. It had been years since he had taken it off, hiding it from view, but he couldn't bear to part with it, not really. As he closed his eyes, he could still picture it in vivid detail, with two white gold garlands inscribed with his name and hers twined around each other. A large light blue star emerald topped the whole thing off, with a white splotch in the middle, resembling a supernova. He remembered how he purchased this from a pair of matching rings, polishing both to a strong shine, admiring its beauty until his favorite star burned out.

"No matter how much time passes, the pain is still as raw as ever," he sighed, walking in steps much too loud, his brightly decorated shoes slapping against the smooth orange tiles. He phased through table after chair after frilly decoration, until his eyes found what he was searching for. "My love…" his hands stretched out to grace the surface of the oil painting made by the finest artisan on Tangea. It was concealed behind ruffled curtains and other manners of distractions. King Nova gently pushed them aside to reach his hidden quarry. It was a family portrait, made when Mira was only a yearling. There she was, sitting on her father's lap, with a tuft of red hair as fiery as her temper falling in the cutest little curls around her rounded face. As for King Nova himself, he looked much younger, much stronger, with his head held up high as grief had not yet burdened his narrow shoulders. He was so proud to be a father, not just to have an heir which was his duty as a king, but to have a child to love and nurture and protect against all harm.

"And what does she do?" He sadly chuckled, "She runs off to join Star Command, putting herself on the front line, putting her life and my heart in danger every minute of every day. Just as stubborn as her mother."

His fingers started to quake. Could he really face her haunting image after all this time? Did he have the courage, the strength? Could his eyes hold back the tears, or would he weep the same way he did on that fateful day? Against all common sense, King Nova scrutinized the image of his lover, nay, his best friend, a friend who so callously deserted him almost twenty years ago, stranding him in a world of nobles, frivolities, and pain, without one ally by his side.

"Leila," his voice cracked, choking back a scratchy sob. He gawked at her beauty even now. The woman had skin as blue as the clear skies, glowing softly as if she was under an intense beam of moonlight. Her hair was a deep royal blue color, free of any band of restraint, as she let the soft wavy hair rest around her shoulders bare. The topaz eyes glimmered with amusement and just a touch of rebellion. It was that spirit that made King Nova fall head over heels for her, and that was the very same spirit that put his daughter and himself at odds against each other. "Leila, why did you have to go?" He tried his best not to break down. "I told you that Grounders were not to be trusted, but you left anyway, certain that you could bring a truce between our people, so sure that good resided in their withered brown stalks," the clear tears streamed down from his eyes, "an adamant believer in quality, just like Mira," he added sourly. "And you agreed to go without guards as an act of good faith," he sighed, rubbing his forehead. Hmm, since when did he get all these wrinkles?

"I would never have allowed you to go, so you snuck behind all of our backs, leaving behind a single letter, assuring me that you'd return to these quarters before the day was over," He slumped against the wall as a shattered man. "You're body was found a week later, your beauty covered with pink moss, your flesh rotting, a deep wound with the energy signatures of those cursed dirt bags' handiwork clogged with pebbles and bloody silt, but your eyes, those topaz eyes, still had that same glimmer, undaunted even in the face of death itself." He shook his head, "If only it were me in your place. If only I listened to your words before. Then maybe you wouldn't have had to go off alone. Then maybe I could have saved you…"

The high and mighty façade returned in his voice, with a sense of purpose, "But I have a duty to my people, to my planet, to my daughter—our daughter," he turned his back on the picture, and her ideals, "and to myself. I won't let Mira die the same way you did, trying to find good in even the lowliest of those animals. Not even her precious team—space monkey, red slug, and tin toy in all—can stop me, so swears I, King of Tangea."

"Sir?" a fellow Tangean phased through one of the walls, interrupting King Nova's monologue.

The startled royal abruptly straightened his spine, not wishing for anyone to see him show the slightest hint of pain. "How DARE you interrupt me?" King Nova's temper was much shorter than usual, but that was to be expected on such a straining anniversary.

"Sire, I—"

"—better have an explanation for this foolishness, Sawyer," Nova glared at the young blond duke quaking in his white designer boots.

"It's just—"

"Speak up, for I haven't got all day," Nova interrupted yet again.

"YOU'VE GOT MAIL!" the sorry duke shouted before Nova had the chance to interrupt him.

"Is this some kind of joke?" the royal was outraged. "I'll have you know that shenanigans of this nature are NOT tolerable!"

"But sir," Sawyer cowered in fear, "it's important."

"Who could possibly be so significant?" the sarcasm was thick in his regal voice. "All the important beings in this universe are centered right here within these palace walls." His voice lowered, "I don't deal with those sniveling lower life forms on this day of all days."

"It's Mira," the duke straightened his posture.

Nova was shell-shocked. Mira never came over to visit. It was always him that tracked her down. He was never sure if it was because Mira hated her home—that she referred to as a gilded cage—or because she couldn't stand him.

"She's back," was all the blond boy could say.

"Mira…?" King Nova's voice trembled. "She's here?"

"Yes," the duke bowed, grateful that Nova had seen reason. "And she wrote that she has some urgent news to tell you, concerning matters she believes that you will find most intriguing. She won't converse with anyone else."

"So she's finally seen the light?" for the first time in years, a true happiness washed over Nova's face. "Oh joy! Now we can get started on the proper arrangements, preparing her to be the future leader of this planet. And possibly help her settle down with a real man of proper standing," he started to drift into his fantasies of having his girl safe at last.

"I'll send her in before leaving you two alone," Sawyer bowed once more, so low that his tresses swept the floor, and left the room to bring King Nova's daughter in.

"I can't believe it," King Nova wiped away a cheerful tear from his eye. "After all these years, we're finally reunited as father and child. Happy days at last! I just knew she'd get this whole Star Command nonsense out of her system. I just knew it…" King Nova mentally prepared himself to meet his daughter. "Now don't get overexcited you old goat. This just might be a social visit, but still, it's a start."

A girl ghosted through the orange walls. A girl flipped her long fiery orange hair behind her head. A girl, with skin as blue as Leila's, had an expression saved for business matters scrawled across her face. A girl dressed in a Star Command outfit painted in those cursed green and white colors Mira had come to adore and her father had come to deplore stepped into the light, but it wasn't Mira.

Her dainty blue hand collided into Nova's face, covering his mouth so the bloodcurdling scream couldn't be released. Cold empty eyes bored through King Nova's mind, forcing a mental telepathy link between the imposter and the king. A voice akin to crackling embers greeted his mind.

"We need to talk."


Back in Star Command, Mira was down for the count. XR used his extendable arms to push through the crowds of uptight rangers, "Move over; let Mira have some room to breathe! You guys are packed tighter than Booster's snack compartment," XR tried to lighten up the situation. If he didn't everyone would panic, and more lives were put in jeopardy when people fell to pieces.

"Get this ranger to the emergency room stat!" Commander Nebula's harsh voice roared as the man hobbled through the room on one leg. Only a charred stub remained from his peg leg extension.

Nebula knew they just had to save Mira, not just because it would start an interplanetary war if the sole heir to the Tangean throne perished in the line of duty, but because she was a good ranger—the top of her field—and a loyal companion. She deserved a better fate than this.

"All LGMs to the medical lab, now!" the little green men silently scurried to their respective stations, putting on blue latex gloves, goggles, and getting a whole assortment of scanners, shots, and vials prepared for their newest patient.

Booster set aside his tears and ran towards Mira, grabbing her limp form in his strong arms. "Mira, please be ok, please be ok…" the mantra ran like a broken record in the Jo-Adian's mind, as he carried her suddenly frail looking body to the ER, failing to stifle the whimpers coming from his throat.

XR raced behind Booster, wanting to be sure that Mira was going to survive. "Oh, why can't organics be more durable? I blow up on a daily basis and you don't see me going offline," XR's sarcasm sensors kicked in, trying to distract his memory chip from the unthinkable; that his "undefeatable" friends truly were mortal. It was more than his Central Processing Unit could take.

When the robot finally entered into the med lab, his optical units expanded in horror. The feisty partner he had come to know and love was too still, too pale, too withdrawn. Was she even breathing? He felt a couple gears loosen as he saw her chest flutter, the hint of movement relaxing him only slightly. XR skidded over to her side, wanting so dearly to hold her hands, but she never let him before. He was after all only a robot, a machine, incapable of feeling.

"If that was true," he inwardly groaned, "then why do I feel like my wires feel like they've been yanked painfully out of my central cavity? It's worse than the freaking vampire bite." He grasped onto Mira's hands, completely oblivious to the puncture wounds within his own body, dripping with oil. Good grief, were they always so cold? Flesh is supposed to be warmer than metal.

Booster stood staring at Mira, laid out on the cotton mat, covered in so many tubes and wires that she looked more machine than Tangean. Her hair was frayed at the sides, still standing up in fright from the last scenes she witnessed. "Mira," Booster's voice quavered with fear, "can you hear me?"

"Noooooooo," one of the LGMs spoke nonchalantly.

That answer stimulated Booster to cry his eyes out.

"What's the matter with you?" XR failed to restrain himself from shaking the LGM until his head rolled off. "She's dying, Booster's a wreck, and you can't even muster up enough concern to shed a tear or two?" He pushed the LGM to and fro, "I failed my sensitivity training, and even I know better than that!"

"Just doing our jooooooooob," all the LGMs replied. "If we get too worked up, mistakes might be made," the LGM nearest Mira replied while scribbling down her symptoms on a clipboard.

"XR, let go of Mira's physician this instant!" Commander Nebula bellowed.

"But pop," XR whined.

"NOW!" Nebula got XR to flee to the other side of the room, where he could be safe from his father's temper and check out Mira's vital signs in peace.

"Run a full diagnostic on her," Nebula gave the task to the top LGM who specialized in nursing.

"Already staaaaaaaarted," the LGM notified him.

"How long will it take," Nebula had a feeling he wouldn't like the answer.

"One, maybe two…" the LGM trailed off.

"Hours?" Nebula asked.

"Daaaaaaaays," they concurrently replied.


King Nova was terrified. Who was this imposter? Was it another of Lord Angstrom's spies? That cursed duke gave Tangeans a bad name, but Nova had never seen another girl who looked just like a carbon copy of his own daughter, unless it was a clone. His eyes widened with fear, as he could barely handle one rebellious daughter. Now he had to contend with two?

"Relax, you uptight geezer," the girl sighed. "I am not in the mood to hear you whine about dignity and valor and your inferior superiority complex." With a wave of her hand, King Nova was sent reeling into a mahogany chair at the end of the room. Sure, the cushions softened the blow, but not enough to completely dissipate the tingling sensations running along his back as pain spread through his body.

"Where's Mira?" Nova asked calmly. It would do him no good to lose his cool. He had to be as sharp as ever to get past this telekinetic and telepathic being who could ghost through walls and communicate solely through thoughts…realization overcame him. "You're not even Tangean, are you."

"Whatever gave you that idea?" she acerbically stated. After getting one of those you know I'm right looks from King Nova, the girl sighed, "Fine." Shadows swirled from around the room, covering her body until they dissolved her disguise, revealing Shade underneath.

"You have to admit that I did a pretty good imitation. It's just the eyes I never seem to master," Shade strolled in an arc around the room, pretending to take a keen interest in all of King Nova's knick knacks and royal upholstery. "Then again, they are a window into the soul, so they must look pretty blank if you don't even have one…"

"As I asked before," Nova was losing his patience, "where's my little girl?"

"She's alive and well in Star Command, if that's what you're asking." Then Shade's eyes narrowed in deep contemplation. "Well, she's alive at the very least. That's something I suppose."

"What did you do to her?" anger radiated from his cutting glare.

"Hey, it's not what I did to her," Shade defended herself, flames lengthening above her head. "It's what she did to me. I didn't ASK for her to go snooping around my mind. Guess she found some events that were just too much for her brain to handle tis all," she continued speaking before Nova took that last statement as an insult, "and I'm in no way implying that she isn't smart; just not able to handle certain things of a more gruesome nature." She gestured to key features around the room, "She was sheltered in here after all."

"I swear if you hurt one hair on her head—"

"You'll what?" Shade scoffed at his threat? "Kill me?" The dark flames in her hair wavered in amusement, "I'd like to see you try."

"So eager to meet your demise?" Nova retorted. Lightyear was not the only one who could keep up with witty banter.

"No, I'm just keen on seeing how you try to slay the embodiment of darkness," Shade shrugged her shoulders. "I mean come on, have you ever heard of someone killing a nightmare? Simply preposterous."

"My guards will be coming in any minute now, as they heard all this racket," Nova coolly stated.

"No they won't," Shade answered back in a bored tone. "The room is soundproof, they think that you're still talking to your unruly daughter, and I may have tampered with their watches, and since they'd never think for a moment that Tangean technology could fail, they'd just assume that time was passing excruciatingly slowly." The gleam in her eyes made Nova sure that she was smiling, or that she would have been if she had a mouth to begin with.

The king started to perspire on the back of his neck. This was not good. He tried to get out of his chair, attempting to use some of his mental powers to break Shade's spell, but her force was overpowering, making his limbs feel like they were as heavy as the planet itself. It was all he could do to muster up the power to breathe. "So are you going to dispose of me now or after you tell me of your heinous plot," he said, with a hint of resign in his voice.

Shade glowered at him, "Why does everyone think I have some sort of evil agenda hidden up my flaming sleeves? Is this because of my hair?" She grumbled, "I swear, if I see one more person declaring me a monster because my locks can't stay still, I'm going to go inferno on their sorry butts!"

Her eyes widened with regret before she recollected her thoughts, delving back into a monotone. "I am sorry to have let that little outburst out into the open. I assure you that it will not happen again."

King Nova was utterly confused at this point, "Then what do you want?"

"What I want is unattainable," she coldly stated, "but what I need, well, that's a different story entirely."

She went through her mental list, "First and foremost, I require a quiet place where I can think—preferably dark—so collect my thoughts, as this world is full of way too many bright lights and colors and sounds. I don't know how you can think straight in such a stimulus ridden environment."

"Second of all, I need some transportation, because flying around though the expanse of space without the aid of a spacesuit is apparently an uncommon sight here, and is bound to get me noticed," she lowered her head to King Nova's face, "and I don't want to be noticed."

"And lastly," she turned her back on him while pacing about the room, "I want to take a closer look into your mind…"
"WHAT?" That last request was too much for the king. "I will not have such filth as you rummaging about in my head. That is out of the question!"

Shade appeared by Nova's side in a nanosecond, "I don't believe you understand the severity of your situation," she grabbed his throat. "I could just as easily crush you with just a thought, or save you for another day."

"But why my brain," Nova complained.

"Because this universe apparently has forgotten the core language, save for the Tangeans; your minds are more open to the realm of mental communication. To ensure that I don't get into misunderstandings with the other barely sentient species, I want to study your brain patterns and adapt them to my own, making my thoughts much more readable to outsiders without the need of physical contact," she continued, "and you owe me."

"How do you figure that?" Nova wanted to know.

"Because I let you live," Shade replied, "and because your daughter's life hinged on my actions, and I felt in a giving mood at that point in time."

Nova's lower lip trembled, "Mira?"

Shade looked away, concealing how touched she was that a father could care for his daughter so, even if she went against his very principles, "Whatever rumor ends up streaming down to these headquarters, just know that I didn't try to harm your child. In fact, I healed her physically, as crazy as that sounds."

Shade leaned against the back wall, once again facing Nova, "She is only out of sorts for the moment; nothing a little counseling can't fix."

The knots in King Nova's shoulders eased. For some strange reason, he believed that what the shadowy character said was true. His daughter was safe, and that was enough for him, but it still didn't change the fact that he was less than thrilled for having Shade as a temporary house guest.

"I don't have a choice, do I," he more groaned than asked.

"You catch on mighty quick," Shade straightened out all the creases from her wispy gloves, preparing to stick her hands through the contents of his mind. "Let's get started now, shall we?"


"LGMs," Commander Nebula's voice gave away how tired he felt, "have you made any breakthroughs?" He stumbled into the med bay on an improvised peg leg—acquired from the wooden handle of a mop—making him look more like a space buccaneer than an officer of the law.

"Negative commander," they sadly shook their heads. "Patient appears to be in a self-induced coma."

"Why in cosmos would she do that?" Nebula couldn't see a reason. "She's faced worse situations before and never faltered, not once!"

"The results are inconclusive," the head LGM's three eyes scanned the data from the charts.

"So in other words, we have no idea why a perfectly good ranger is dead to the world?" Nebula buried his face in his hands. Ohhh, the trouble this was going to bring. He could just imagine it now; Mira Nova being trapped in a comatose state indefinitely, Tangea declaring war on the rest of the Galactic Alliance, people running chaotically through the streets frightened of an outlandish monster that may or may not still be within this quadrant, and mountains of paperwork would be filled out just to get the appropriate documents. His hand already started to cramp just thinking about it.

"In theory," the free thinking LGM offered up his opinion, "only trauma of a severe nature could force subject Mira Nova to shut down her mental processes," the LGMs commented all at once. "And we have no idea what the powers the shadow creature holds."

The other LGMs dismissed his idea, "She will most likely be able to pull herself out of it once her brain manages to repress the information or deal with it in an unbiased manner."

"Most likely?" Nebula huffed.

"95.33321 percent chance of a full recovery," they sang in a chorus.

"And the other…(he tried to calculate the number in his head)… possibility?" Nebula gave up on doing the calculation in his head.

"There is still a 4.66679 percent chance that she will remain unconscious until we turn off the life support machine…" all of their eyes looked at the ground as if it suddenly became the most interesting object in the universe.

"No one TOUCHES that off button!" Nebula boomed. "We do NOT want an intergalactic incident on our hands." His voice lowered with regret that Mira was taken down in her prime, "Just focus on fixing her. I want to see ranger Nova saluting me before the end of the week."

The saddened commander turned around, passing by a bleary eyed booster and his "son" with a helmet full of water. Why the LGMs installed tear ducts into the metal contraption was beyond him, but the commander ignored these thoughts, concentrating instead on his biggest concern; "Maybe Buzz was right after all."


"This feels unpleasant," King Nova cringed.

"Well I'm sorry if my energy is too cold for you to handle," Shade clearly felt no remorse. "Now try just to concentrate on the languages you've got stored in here among color schemes and other such nonsense, so the other meaningless memories don't cloud up my train of thought." After a few minutes of rummaging through his mind, she grumbled, "How many frivolous rules do you people memorize?"

"Stay on track," King Nova lectured her, "I don't want you coming across important Tangean information!" And he deepened his voice, "And those frivolous rules are in reality quite important to ensuring a smooth and stable government, in which we the people—"

King Nova lost the ability to speak. After sending an accusing glare towards Shade, she simply hunched her shoulders, "It's a lot easier when you don't keep making those annoying grunts come out of your mouth."

"At least I have a mouth," King Nova angrily thought back, sending his rage as a beacon through his mind as loudly and obnoxiously as possible.

"That's so childish," Shade commented, while she was brushing up on Basic English. "But why would I need a mouth when I can't make any of those primitive grunts that pass for language around here."

She allowed King Nova to regain the ability to speak. Turns out his remarks sound even more annoying in his mind than in the open air. "And why can't you speak? You evolved without voice boxes or other means of sound wave based communications? How maladaptive of your race," he had been constantly trying to put her down during the entire ordeal.

"My apologies, King Nova," she mocked him, "but I'm just one of a kind. Not another shadow in sight." She paused, while shifting past the tedious records of his speeches, "And I do have vocal chords."

King Nova was quite confused at this point. "Is it a vestigial organ or something?"

"On the contrary," she sighed, "it was fully operational at one point." She was almost done memorizing the most common frequencies of his royal thought patterns.

"Was?" he figured that her grammar was still a little off.

"Yes, I intended to use the past tense," Shade enlightened him. She gave Nova a tired look after hearing his mind reel with questions, "Must you really know?"

"Well, if you're going through my memories," Nova justified his desire, "I see no reason for you to hide one of yours."

"Picky, picky, picky," she her voice crackled. She took her hands out of Nova's head, and pulled down the flaming collar covering her smooth black neck, earning a gasp from Nova, for across her neck, a red scar was carved deep into the jugular. "X marks the spot," she tried to make light of the situation before covering the marred flesh back up.

"Who did that?" Nova actually showed concern for his captor.

"Who didn't," her voice shrunk to a whisper.


"LGMs," Commander Nebula grew hesitant, "What's taking so long? King Nova should have been here ages ago after he got that message about Mira's condition. He's always arrived here at hyper speed whenever we didn't extend an invitation."

"He can't be if we never sent it," one of the LGMs responded.

"WHAT?" Nebula was beside himself. "Do you know the repercussions of your actions? If Nova hears about this from a third party…" Nebula moaned like a wounded animal.

"It's not like they didn't try dad," XL as a photocopy machine burst his way through the crowd of LGMs. Even though that crotchety ranger (who seemed to model his temper after his Nebula's) had defected to the good side, he still knew how to make a violent entrance, pushing aside LGMs like bowling balls. "The signal just won't get through."

"I'm still not sure I trust your judgment," Nebula had a hard time accepting the wild fax machine.

XR came to his brother's defense, "For once the cook's telling the truth."

"HEY!" XL protested.

"Oh, come on, XL," XR playfully nudged his side, "you know I love ya, loose screws and all."

Nebula shook his head wondering why in deep space he was cursed with not one, but two loony machines as honorary sons. "Is this true Booster?" Nebula asked the ranger who was overseeing this transaction.

"Affirmative," he responded while diligently scanning the area to pinpoint the location of the static field blocking their transmissions. "Not even radio feed can cut through this static."

The LGMs were working furiously typing codes, pressing blinking buttons, and turning levers in their console to no avail. "This is baaaaaaaaaaaaaad."

"No kidding," XR laid on the cynicism. "There's no signal, no message, no apparent reason; it's like the makings of a horror movie, and the comedic relief is always the first to go!" He rolled around in circles, "I don't want to be reduced to shrapnel!"

"Someone kick that overexcited wad of wires out before he hurts himself," Nebula groaned.

Booster rose from his padded seat and led XR away, "Calm down buddy, let's go visit Mira. I never got to show you the flowers I got her. They're snapdragons from planet Rhizome, and no, not the red kind…" the pair traveled out of earshot.

Nebula stared out into the distance, trying to pick out Tangea's location from amidst the millions of stars spilling across the sky, "Get Lightyear on the line. We need him now more than ever."