Ty disembarked out of his suit, taking piece by piece, until he were stripped down to a shirt and black shorts. The uniform set was aside, neatly organized in the closet, waiting to be put back on, with armor that required repairs. He looked over toward a picture of himself and the younger man, younger, when they were partners before Buzz and Warp. It had been crumbled by time, tossed out, then taken out, with wrinkles here and there, some of it faded, notably showing how long it had been crumbled before being rescued. It had tear stains on it, from all those years ago, upon the news reaching his station very quickly on that day. He saw a young man, his arm wrapped around his shoulder, leaning against him, grinning brightly.
He set the photograph down then gazed upon his wounded arm that was covered by a fine strip of cloth that covered it. Two days had passed and Warp was still resting, recuperating, longer than Booster, it was strange, as if, he wasn't quite recuperating his energy, but his very soul.
"Stupid Ty, being too high on his horse to tell Buzz that he wanted to save him just once."
Ty sighed, briefly closing his eyes, stroking his arm.
"How did Buzz became such a good man when oblivious to the pain left in the ego of others?"
A series of wires erupted out of his arm, painfully, with a hot searing noise, his knees experiencing the same pain, including his calves, his head aching, and there were wires all over. He screamed in pain as the change soured the mood replacing it with agony and despair, his scream replaced by a howl, and red eyes, even the face of a mechanical wolf, themed blue and white, standing where the Space Ranger had fallen. The wolf ran out of the room running through the corridors, tearing down robots, ripping them to shreds in a faze of fury.
The Wirewof came to a pause beside med bay, peering in, observing Warp laid on the medical bed with his team waiting by his side, waiting for him to wake up. The wirewolf could sense, see, another lifeform among them holding Warp's hand. The figure stood closely by the bedside. The figure shifted in the direction of the wirewolf, a all too familiar face, a face that brought chills down the creature's spine, eyes becoming tiny, becoming completely white staring at what wasn't there. The wirewolf ran off into the hallway leaving behind the crew behind waiting for their team leader to awaken as the figure shifted their attention back in the direction of Warp Darkmatter.
On the third day, Warp slowly came to out of the fog, the darkness, overhearing the sound of his heart monitor beeping, the dark brown paint job in the room, the high grade medical equipment decorating the entire room, the post had all the personal touches that someone who once served in the field of action would require for somewhere incredibly remote he was a veteran in that respect, serving on one place instead of being part of the fight against Zurg. He lifted himself up with full strength and his belly aching, observing the snoozing really rookies, amused, sleeping side by side.
"Does anyone by any chance know where to find cheesecake?"
The sound of his voice that morning awoke the crew at the appearance of the miserable and baggy eyed captain. A loud whoop echoed in the chamber then they all hugged him at once. The Space Ranger groaned, his shoulder throbbing even more with them piling on top of him.
"You're awake!" XR announced.
"And starving." Warp said.
"I'll get it!" XR spun out of the cabin.
"Did we find the energy vampire?" Warp asked.
"Turned them off so badly by having drank blood twice that they left." Mira cackled, amused.
"Hmmm..." Warp rubbed his chin. "that whole draining draining can be useful instead of trapping them in a coffin."
"Treating them like a mosquito?" Booster asked.
"Petty much." Warp smirked with a nod. "Good deterrence."
"On one hand, they become a pest..." Mira said.
"On the other hand ..." Booster said then grinned. "This vampire gets become part of the defeated aliens Darkmatter lore."
It was roughly a hour later that the group came out of the mess shall, Warp back in uniform, ready to go back on patrol when XR had a girly shriek in response to a sight in front of him. The Space Rangers ran in front of the droid then paused in their tracks finding the remains of several robots in front of them. The android hit behind them as Warp stepped forward then raised his head up seeing the trail of fluid leading on then made his way on after the wreckage and Mira followed after him searching the corridor for the energy vampire. The Space Ranger arrived to Ty's cabin and the door opened before his eyes leaving a friend in a torn up white shirt and pants that fell.
"Rough night?" Warp asked.
"Very rough night." Ty nodded in agreement sweating.
"Have a conflict with your vampire friend?" Warp added.
"Terrible one. Yeah, I did." Ty leaned against the frame. "I can take care of myself."
"My team and I really believe the vampire has gotten inside." Warp reported to the commanding officer. "It's either the vampire can go through walls now or was let in by a request, I have to believe the second, we're going to catch it, drain it, seal it in a coffin, dig bury it in a hole, and never think about it." His features darkened. "Ever."
"Since you're better and all, has your shoulder?" Ty asked.
"What about it-right, yeah, worrisome, don't worry it's fine." Warp said, dismissively. "just needed some anti-bug bite on it and it's fine."
"That vampire isn't a bug." Ty pointed out.
"But, they carry bugs." Warp smirked then lifted his brows in unison. "Unless you want Star Command to send miniature versions of dish-fly swatters to take care of the pest."
"Appealing, but," Ty held up a lone finger. "I like the energy vampire outta here."
"Alright," Warp replied. "The forty-two will be flying and out of here by tonight with the vampire." he gestured over his shoulder then a defiant expression spread across his features as he leaned forward. "I'm staying behind to make sure Zurg related surprises is not sticking around."
Nos-4-A2 was perched along a tree branch looking down upon the meal that awaited below them. A glint went off in one of their eyes staring down upon the small unit, two days after the last attack. And one night full of a unique wirewolf prowling the area almost in a hunting position. Red eyes staring off into the night directly at the menacing classy beast. They had hissed back at the creature and the wirewolf bore teeth back at them. Intimidating yet thoroughly pleasing to witness earlier. Nos-4-a2 rubbed their claws together then flung on toward the innocent food with vengeance in their optics.
XR screamed, loudly. The claws closing on the small droid left out in the open. Unexpectedly, the space vampire was trapped in a container that flipped over and loudly slammed behind them. A heavy weight rested on top of it as the vampire scratched at the door in rage screeching for a escape. Just as quickly as it happened, the vampire was being drained of the energy, trapping them, weakening them. A vicious cruel defeat.
From outside, Team Darkmatter cheered as did Ty with a slow clap rolling his eyes. Warp and the crew shared high fives, and laughed, and laughed, at the trapped being. They pointed at the coffin, wheezing. Ty shook his head at their continuous celebration as the moon became revealed behind them. The laughter ended when Ty's screams pierced the air drawing their attention in horror watching the wirewolf be reborn. The beast tore Xr into several pieces then Booster was the first to fire with the others following suit.
Booster was knocked aside as trees were wrecked and rocks were unsettled. Mira was knocked back, her laser drained, then all that was left standing in the way was Warp who fired on damaging the wirewolf's legs drawing the attention away from the coffin. The wirewolf gained ground then knocked him off his feet with a loud roar, bearing it's fangs back at him and turned away marching off toward the coffin. Booster got up and resumed fire with Booster attacking the back of the creature. Warp got up to his feet then stood in the way of Booster before it could drain the giant of his power supply as the beast had gotten closer to the coffin.
"RANGER PARSEC, DON'T YOU DARE DESTROY THAT COFFIN IN THE NAME OF BUZZ LIGHTYEAR!"
The wirewolf stopped, whining, looking down upon the coffin. The coffin replaced by the closed torpedo with the emblem of Star Command on it then shifted in the direction of Warp Darkmatter, ready to fire at the wirewolf, but so very reluctant shaking his head. The wirewolf looked back, the mirage still in place, at the image that lingered in his mind, remembering all that pain on that day. He had never imagined the man to fall during the field of action, to be incredibly still, to be silent, weak, vulnerable, and defeated in this way. The image caused the beast to step back.
"Buzz. . ."
The wirewolf morphed back into Ty who knelt down and cried into his hands.
"Why did he have to die during a mission against Zurg?" Ty cried. "WHY?"
"It's the only way that Buzz Lightyear could have gone out." Booster said, reaching a hand out, planting his large hand on the older man's shoulder.
Ty came out of his quarters, dressed back in uniform, standing before the smaller group of the team lacking XR. Booster had his arms folded, just as Warp did, including Mira, their eyes radiating that one question and a valid layer of concern etched on their facial features. Ty sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, then they went into his officer to have the discussion. The office had pictures of the colleagues and of his long career in Star Command.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Warp asked.
"And get trapped? No."
"Nah, you wouldn't." Warp said. "If you don't recall, then it's quite unfortunet."
"About what?" Ty asked.
"We have several werewolves back at Star Command." Booster said. "Really testy when they get assigned to planets with several moons or just that one moon."
"It's okay to be a werewolf." Warp said.
"How are you not mutating into a Wirewolf?" Ty asked. "You were bitten in the same ray as I were."
"I was busy." Warp replied.
"Are you meaning to tell us . . that . . . your body isn't acknowledging it?" Booster asked.
"Like I said," Warp replied with a shrug. "I was being busy a Space Ranger."
"Wish I were that busy," Ty said.
Mira looked on in concern toward the captain.
"He is already suffering." Mira suggested drawing the other's suggestion. "It can't wreck his entire body for that reason."
"Those old delivery wound still aching?" Ty asked.
"They ache wherever I go, ointment or not." He looked toward Booster. "Mira, Booster, bury the vampire." He turned away from the group then proceeded to depart. "I have some over due ointment to apply."
"It completely slipped our mind." Booster said, apologetically.
The door closed behind Booster who peered into the bag featuring XR's parts and grimaced then back toward the commander of the station.
"Take his parts with you." Ty said. "Comes recommended around here."
Booster left then Mira approached him.
"It won't help saying this, but I have to." Mira said. "Can you tell me about the time Buzz saved you for the first time?"
"I have told the story like over a thousand times," Ty said, sighing, folding his arms. "Like a old tape recorder, heard so many times, it's boring, out of date, it's irrelevant."
"Condensed." Mira lifted a brow with a smirk. "You haven't talked about how your felt and how it was. It doesn't have that feeling getting to know Buzz Lightyear had."
"Alright," Ty sat down at the chair, leaving Mira without a chair. "I hope you got a hour or two to spare."
"We're staying here to make sure you got a grip over that new form before leaving," Mira said. "got lots of time."
Ty bore a small smile in response to the time to the kind and friendly Tangean then proceeded to talk about Buzz Lightyear regarding how they first met and how young they were on their first mission together.
Warp hung outside of the station after applying ointment to his figure, for several hours, keeping a eye on the grave that had been dug for the beast that took over Star Command once and tried to do the same for the Power Station. He cupped the side of his helm looking down upon the grave overseeing the lack of strength that the energy vampire bestowed unable to dig out of the grave. He grinned at the reflection, happy, then drew on the dirt with a long stick making a image of the energy vampire drained by himself with a dish unit. Booster was back at the ship taking a nap in the pilot's seat per the captain's recommendation after seeing how tired that he were from the eventful mission. A familiar howl echoed in the environment causing him to freeze then turned around in the direction of where it had came. He saw a figure in the shadows, in the fog, underneath the green moon.
"It doesn't matter what you become," Warp dropped the stick to his side. Words poured out at him, taking a fighting stand, refusing to take the actual fighting stance against a friend. "only that you remain who you are and take control of that life! You can be anything, and you can still be a Space Ranger, Wirewolf or not!"
The wirewolf charged after the Space Ranger. Warp turned around and fled, the wirewolf was targeting him, specifically. Ah yes, there was a part of Ty within it. Caged, bubbling to the surface, his emotional attachments frayed with only it being acted upon. With all things considered, Warp believed that his mission was still going to end on a good start as it weren't going to end on a tragic note. There were nothing glorious about it, no sacrifice, he could still turn a negative into a positive. It's what Buzz would have done.
"Ty, I remember when my body began to transform into female characteristics, how appalling it were, how alien it were, how helpless I were, didn't have the funds, my grandparents had enough to cover my tuition and that was it! I had help, I had people who considered themselves my friends, people who had my back, during my transition and after my transition." he paused in his tracks shifting toward the growling wirewolf as it crept slowly, claws digging in the dirt, shoulders hung, eyes full of rage. "I lost a few of those people being a Space Ranger and they're never coming back."
He dodged the strike that the beast had.
"And then I found out to love myself, my body, that I would always be a man in the heart, in the soul, in the mind, no matter what I were, I am a man, I present as a man, and live as one."
He hid behind a tree.
"Ty, I know you're in there, hiding," the tree was sliced in half. "from transforming against your consent into this body," He stepped aside facing the beast struggling to get it's claws out. "but, you have a choice, to be good or evil with this changed body! Who do you want to be?"
Warp was tackled by the beast.
"A wild animal or a Space Ranger in control of the beast inside that is loved?" Warp continued.
The wirewolf stepped off his chest apparenly weighing that comment then the Space Ranger fled on foot tripping over a tree root falling down to his knees with a yelp drawing the wirewolf's attention and rage resurfaced blinding it charging back at the Space Ranger.
"Ty! Stop!" Mira came to a halt in between the two. "You don't have to identify with your body, you can love it for how it looks, how it changes, how it morphs into something great, into something ugly, all that you need to do is love the form you live in!" she put a hand on her chest. "I identify as she/they and I am bisexual, I see these organs as something that don't represent me," she stretched her arms out then folded her arms as she started to smile. "but, they come with distinct advantages when it comes to love and how beautiful it looks at times when displaying my beauty from the outside."
Warp grew surprised then proceeded to smile.
"This relationship is part of my identity as a Space Ranger."
Mira stepped forward as the wirewolf took a step back.
"And I love myself, for all the faults, for all the regrets, and for all the mistakes." Warp looked up then fired at a tree branch above the wirewolf as Mira talked. "No matter how I screw up."
The wirewolf morphed back into Ty who was pinned by the tree branch.
"Ow." Ty whined.
"Now, stay there!" Warp ordered as he pointed down toward him. "While I make my official report." he shifted toward Mira. "Keep a eye on him for one hour and if he doesn't turn in the next time the moon is exposed, then he's in control."
"Was that necessary?" Mira asked with a tilt of her head. "He turned back."
"I find that to be my emotional security." Warp replied, then walked away flipping open his comn over Ty's groaning. "Warp to Star Command, threats neutralized. Mission Accomplished. Full report will come in at a later time."
"Feeling yourself, Ty?" Mira asked, standing above the Space Ranger.
"I need to attend a grieving support group." Ty said, bringing a smile to Mira's features. "In hindsight, I should have done that a long time ago."
A/N My headcanon the energy vampire is a they\them and prefers a male english voice because ham