Zurg was pacing in the throne room behind his chair. He tapped his claws behind his back on his arm as he quickly changed directions. A million thoughts loomed in his head, which one way or another lost their way into the deeper parts of his mind. His cape flew behind him as he walked, making small tapping noises on the ground that were quite rhythmical and slightly irritating. NOS-4-A2 was out of his seat, seeming a bit annoyed at his master's current mood.
"Oh would you PLEASE stop that? It's driving me insa-"
"Well what do you expect me to do?! Not be worried that you LOST the most important part of tonight?! Mothe- The call should be coming in at any moment, and we're without that mangy mutt of a ranger!" Zurg exclaimed, flipping himself towards NOS-4-A2 and coming face to face with his surprised look. He retreated his claws back into his cape slowly after slightly adjusting his glowing monocle. He waited a moment before speaking in a softer and somewhat calming voice to his master.
"Like I said, he hasn't gone anywhere. Even if he had found a way off this planet, a highly unlikely task, he still wouldn't be able to remove his collar. Which, I might add, he seems to have taken a disliking to," he said with a small grin. Another small chuckle came from behind the two with a slightly mechanical tone. NOS-4-A2 turned around to see XL with a more upbeat expression than he had for the last few minutes.
It had not exactly been the greatest sight for everyone to see the emperor's reaction to Parsec's disappearance. An evil overlord going from "everything is Jim-crackin' dandy" to "everyone in this room's chance of getting out alive has been cut in half" wasn't the ideal feeling the other villains were expecting to get from a meeting of conquering and the satisfying destruction of Capital Planet. Of course XL, the most clueless of them all, would still maintain that look of blankness as he always did unless something involving him to fight or toy with the other rangers popped up.
"Why would Star Command want that robot dog on their side anyway? It seems a bit weird they would want something like that, aren't they all about saving the galaxy? I'm sure a visit from that guy wouldn't be the thing they want to save them."
"He's not- I mean he is but… Well I-..." NOS-4-A2 was too tired of XL to explain it again for the second time. He was seriously starting to question why Zurg had powered him back on again when he couldn't keep up with the most simple part of the entire night. Facepalming, he faced Zurg again, "Oh nevermind you idiotic bucket of bolts," he mumbled.
"Anyway, he can't be far, and I'm sure that Lightyear and his little friends are still looking for them. Your hornets and moon bases should be able to take them down as soon as their ship is detected. Without much space to pass by undetected it won't be a problem taking them out of the equation. And I am willing to search for ranger Parsec myself if it is needed, he can't be far and my updated detecting ability will be able to spot him."
"Well I KNOW that already! I don't care where he is or who finds him, I just want him here and that's all that matters! In fact..." Zurg walked over to the table. After sighing quite softly and calmly, he slammed his fists down on the table and shook the recently dazed off villains. They stared back at him with tired and slightly frustrated eyes, but immediately went a bit nervous when he started barking orders.
"Everyone in this room, GET OUT AND FIND RANGER PARSEC BEFORE I HAVE ALL OF YOU PERSONALLY EXECUTED AND BROADCAST THE FOOTAGE TO EVERY INHABITED PLANET IN THE GALAXY!" XL gulped, Warp seemed almost impressed at his employer's rant that was quite enjoyable for him to watch, and the rest of the villains (the brain pod most obviously) shivered in fear of the idea of an evil overlord disposing of them. Zurg, after taking a second to catch his breath, spoke in a much more...cheerful tone.
"Oh, and be sure to use the back door, the side one keeps getting stuck at the hinges. Alright, buh-bye now!" He said with a welcoming grin. NOS-4-A2 gave his master a look that deeply showed his concern for his sanity before slithering through the air past him like a serpent, adding on to the line of villains that had started to head out the door, VERY weary of Zurg. His unpredictability was one that was not to be messed with.
"Oh, Nosy? Could you hold on for just a moment?" NOS-4-A2 rolled his eyes before changing his direction of flight and swooping down in front of Zurg. He folded his arms with a fanged frown.
"Could you please stop calling me that? It's quite the embarrassing nickname you've given me, and I believe you're making me appear weak in front of our, well… who was our hostage-" Zurg held up a hand to stop him once again, "Or… I'M the one who gave you life, so I shall address you as I want to. Also, I don't care." NOS muttered under his breath but made sure it wasn't loud enough for Zurg to hear, "What I do care about is, is there any chance you could find another one of… whatever that thing ranger Parsec is? I know he's not a permanent robodog or whatever but do you know if there's any others you have on speed dial?"
"Well… no. I don't think that's possible. He's the only one, I'm certain."
"And how do YOU know?" Zurg seemed quite irritated that the slim possibility of them actually having a steady backup plan was now gone.
"Because I made that Wirewolf!" Zurg blinked a few times in shock, and NOS was quick to clarify, "Nonono not like that! I mean I was the cause that he… oh nevermind that'll take too much time. Do you want me to go looking for him or not?"
Before Zurg could even begin to answer the energy vampire, he noticed that he was looking at the behind wall with a puzzled look. A small metallic clanking noise from outside the room was keeping the energy vampire in a trance, and it was clear that it wasn't coincidence. He motioned for Zurg to stay quiet as the noise began to steadily speed up and grow in volume. Zurg finally noticed the sound as he turned around in the same direction as his creation. This continued for a few seconds before, suddenly, the noise ceased to exist. The last one of the clanks seemed to come from right outside the wall, almost as if it had run into it, and now the room lay silent.
Zurg, just as intrigued as the energy vampire, took a step closer to investigate, but was easily prevented by the giant cannon-like explosion that bursted out of the wall. He yelped and jumped back as he watched the wall slowly disintegrate with great fear and confusion.
Bits of scrap metal that was once a solid wall flew in random directions as a puff of smoke was made from the more rock based materials. The room shook as the last of the debris hit the ground and created a volcanic-like eruption out of the wall. The brain pod jumped up and exclaimed as it looked to have almost drifted off before the explosion NOS-4-A2 was the first to spot something through the fog, two glowing red eyes.
A low, mechanical growl echoed throughout the walls and sent a shiver down NOS-4-A2's spine. Although he knew this was quite convenient that he came, he had forgotten that the Wirewolf wasn't exactly an easy target to capture or hunt down. But of course, he wouldn't let that show. He formed a small fanged grin.
"I was wondering when you'd finally decide to join us, ranger Parsec." The red eyes narrowed at NOS-4-A2 as the rest of the smoke cleared. Team Lightyear, all four members looking quite serious and ready to attack, stood close behind Ty. Buzz looked over at Zurg and narrowed his eyes as well. The pair of rangers weren't exactly in the best mood when around their enemies. Zurg, seeing Buzz in his irritated state, took a small and shy step towards NOS, almost for protection if he decided to take a shot at him.
"Oh, and I see you've brought your little friends! How wonderful…" The more NOS-4-A2 spoke, the more annoyed he sounded. He slowly flew closer to the group, still keeping his body completely concealed in his cape and holding onto that forced grin. He fixed his glowing monocle directly into XR's eyes, who in response squinted a little and shielded his eyes.
"Hello, Little One. Still trembling in fear from me I see?" XR looked away in disbelief as his humiliation caused panic inside his small body. He was hoping that no one was going to notice, but it looked as if that plan was over as quickly as it had started.
"Wha- No I'm not! Shut up ya energy suc-" NOS-4-A2 leaned in closer and hissed, his forked tongue waving about which caused poor XR to cry out and hide behind Mira who was also a bit startled and raised her wrist lazer with her teeth clenched. The energy vampire smirked seeing his former servant still afraid of him.
"Oh, you can put that down, princess," NOS flew back a few feet and stood straight up, "I just need Little One to save his voice for when I get revenge on him later. I want it to be as painful as possible, and that's no fun without the screaming as I drain his power." XR closed his eyes and tried to not completely collapse in fear… again. Ty barked and tried to snap his jaw down onto NOS-4-A2, who's reflexes were too quick.
Spreading his electrical bat-like wings, he soared up into the air within less than a second as Ty growled mechanically. The energy vampire chuckled seeing the Wirewolf in frustration and slowly concealed his wings as red sparks flew off from them.
"Still snippy, aren't we Parsec? Looks like this form suits your personality quite well," Ty lowered his head in anger as he tried to control his anger and started a low, faint growl. NOS-4-A2 took note of this and continued his taunting.
"Why don't you just stay like that? You're closer to a monstrous robotic dog then you are a good ranger." Ty's paws shook as they dug into the metal floor and his rage started to slip out, "After all, you're more in need of rescuing then the actual princess right behind you."
That did it for Ty. He couldn't keep in his anger anymore. Slowly backing down and positioning his hind legs in a jumping position, he suddenly lunged into the air with great height and speed that caught even NOS-4-A2 off guard. Claws out, Ty pounced onto the energy vampire's chest and sank his paws in as NOS shrieked. The two tumbled to the ground hard, Parsec growling and standing his ground as NOS-4-A2's wings started to sputter for a moment before he folded them back in slowly.
He struggled to get up as Ty, still enraged, stood before him and watched his every move without a blink. The Wirewolf slammed a paw down as NOS shuddered with fear and backed away against the wall. He tried going through his matinence files within his monocle, and found that Ty had dug in his claws at the base where his wing emerged, so he couldn't fly as fast as he could. He cursed under his breath as the Wirewolf was now inches from his face.
Suddenly, Ty used his front paws to pin NOS up against the wall, savoring the moment he had waited for. He used his threatening mechanical voice once more to get some demands out of the energy vampire at last.
"Give...Me...the key…" NOS-4-A2 darted his eyes around, looking for any kind of solution to his predicament. He caught a glimpse of Zurg hiding behind his throne and making absolutely no attempt to stop any or the intruders. What a coward, he thought, why am I even loyal to you anyway? His anger made his monocle glow an even deeper red, and it finally came to him.
He gave a small glance with a smirk towards Ty, before shooting out a beam of red light from his monocle directly into ranger Parsec's face who definitely didn't see it coming. He roared mechanically, gripping his face as he stumbled back and faced Team Lightyear who was already rushing over to help him from across the room. NOS, now free, took the opportunity to slowly fly above the group and watch from there.
Ty collapsed onto the ground, still gripping where NOS had shot the energy beam into. He tried to steady his breathing to no avail, and couldn't find any way to defeat whatever source of the threat was within him. Buzz was the first to reach him, and held out a hand to his old friend as he laid on the ground in pain.
Ty fought against the many sudden thoughts that had just formed in his mind. He swore he heard the Wirewolf's voice, but it was quickly engulfed by the many evil commands and bribes. He couldn't explain how, but it was if he was losing his mind, as if he were completely subject to these statements without having another word of his own.
"Ty?" The Wirewolf whimpered like a dog as its cries grew softer with every second. Buzz looked back at his team, but it was clear none of them knew what to do. He turned back helplessly with sad eyes as Ty's finally started to open. But this time, it was different. They were a much deeper red, were much brighter… and had a much more savage look in them.
NOS-4-A2 folded his arms as he looked down at Buzz. His position was much more relaxed, as if he had already won.
"I wouldn't get too close to him. He's completely lost in my trance now. Now…" he closed his eyes to concentrate, "Destroy Team Lightyear, my vicious pet."
Team Lightyear, Booster and XR most in particular, gasped in fright as the Wirewolf went onto its hind legs, losing that sense they had had when Ty was in control. Now, it was just some monster that NOS-4-A2 had created, a villain to the universe. They all knew deep down, however, that their friend was in there, and they would make sure (even if they figured out how to) that they wouldn't kill it.
The Wirewolf created glowing green footprints as it took a few steps closer towards the space rangers. As it took more steps and the space rangers were running out of places to go, it bared its fangs and showed its claws, almost explaining its procedures for hunting to its own prey. XR continued to tremble as he sped to the back of the group and got very close to the wall.
Buzz, Mira, Booster, AND XR were all very aware of how quickly the Wirewolf would be able to counter an attack, and pounce on anyone who was to step out of line. Buzz knew firsthand that this wasn't a foe to be messed with, and even he wasn't able to defeat it the first time without the help of Ty himself. It felt terrible to not have a plan of action once again. From above, the wicked laugh of the energy vampire filled the room and echoed throughout the throne room as Zurg felt it was safe enough to slowly sit himself down in his throne. NOS looked at his master and grinned.
"And once you're through with them, make sure that this… weakling of an emperor is finished off as well." Zurg gasped and immediately got up to run without any hesitation at all. NOS watched as he fled the room, and hoped that he didn't come back to this place again. If the Wirewolf didn't hunt him down, he knew he'd be too scared anyway to return. He knew his master well.
Just as he had turned back around to see the very enticing moment of Ty's killing off of the most annoying rangers he had come across, he found a most unusual scene instead. The Wirewolf, instead of reigning victorious over its prey, was now clutching its head and wobbled on its hind legs for a moment. Everyone else in the room was just as confused as the energy vampire as the Wirewolf fell to its knees and started to shake violently.
Suddenly, an enormous wolf howl ripped through the ears of everyone in the room as the Wirewolf shot its head back to the stars. Green flames and small sparks flew all around before finally coming out of the Wirewolf altogether and formed one giant flame. The color was identical to Canis Lunis's radiation, and it burned even brighter as both the space rangers and the energy vampire watched in fascination.
The green fireball flew up into the air as the howl died down and the Wirewolf's eyes softened in color and it fell back down onto all fours. The flame moved in arcs as it bounced off the metal ground, before finally crashing across the room and the flame quickly seemed to soak into the ground. At the base of the flame stood a green, glowing wolf with bright white eyes. It wasn't exactly solid, but a flame-like creature that gave off small sparks of the same color. It stood proud as it looked over at the Wirewolf it had just emerged from.
Ty gasped for breath as his sanity was returned and his memories quickly returned and he took grasp of the current situation. He looked directly into the wolf's eyes that seemed to burn into his soul. Although it was a real(ish) wolf, he instantly recognized the same feeling he felt with the Wirewolf. It had to be it, but it was still puzzling since he himself was still a Wirewolf. ITs appearance was quite mesmerizing to look at as the pure beauty and calmness of the creature was almost comforting to everyone, like it were some kind of god. It almost seemed to grin at Ty with its fangs as it began to speak in a calm, and majestic but powerful voice.
"Hello there."
Thank you so much for reading! As a special treat for everyone who liked this story, I decided to give it another chapter as a special gift! I'm so happy about how much support you all have given me during these tough times, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Again, thank you all you awesome readers! Happy holidays!