Days flew by on Naboor. Warp Darkmatter and Emperor Zurg little by little became familiar with the village they were living in, Maito. It was a little town, with about nine hundred inhabitants. The houses, more like cottages and huts, were brilliantly in balance with the surrounding nature. The high woods, which reached almost the clouds, were growing tensely around. There was no backyard without two or three of the gigantic Itrakutsa trees conquering the space from the smaller foliage. Thus, the village was by and large very shadowy, and the midsummer suns did not smolder the inhabitants with their fatiguing rays. There was only a couple of places about the town where the veil of the large leaves was absent, namely the most poorest suburb near the coastline and the environment of the deep, greenish swimming pond close to a moor.

The village was quite inviting in every aspect. There could be found several services for the inhabitants as well as for the visitors, for example cafeterias, restaurants, hairdressers, a movie theatre, a night club, and a couple cosmetologists, not to mention the various range of clothing stores and warehouses. And from the day on, when Warp and Zurg came into town, there could also be found a gym.

Warp was not spending much time with his boss the Emperor, for the grouchy old man wanted to be in his own chamber nearly all the time. He did not want to go anyplace with his shoulder in package, because he was feeling shame of it. It had been a hard-hitting blow for his imperial pride, to be saved by some pitiable aboriginals. The next time he would go stroll outside would be the day he was perfectly recovered from his injury and regained his powers.

Warp, instead, was a general sight in town. He stopped over in every fashion boutique and ordered loads of expensive, up-to-the-minute clothes, which he had no money to pay. He drank dozens of milkshakes and ate several good meals in the restaurants, and left without paying them. For, in addition to the fact he was penniless, nobody even had the courage to ask him for the compensation. This issue annoyed the host family Gnir's youngest child, Adelante, exceedingly. She tried to explain Warp that their village was not the richest in the universe, and that his bigheaded behavior would soon force the small enterprises close their doors. But Warp did not listen, he was only thinking about his own comfort. His egoism rose into new dimensions, and although Adelante more than ten times a day plagued him about his selfish habits, he continued still. The usual answer for her was an amused glance, which he did not even try to hide. Consequently, Adelante was boiling. Who did this too-puffed-up man think he was?

And Emperor Zurg was not any easier a case. Sitting inside day after another did not do him good, and soon he found himself immensely bored with every entertainment the Gnir House could provide. He would not come out of his room, he would not stay in. He was frustrated, angry, difficult. Azile Gnir visited him at least three times a day, bringing him the food tray. Soon the Emperor got used to her stopovers, for they were actually the only refreshing parts of his days. Thus, he had given an order that nobody except she should serve him. Azile, however, was not satisfied with this command. She was nobody's servant, except at work as a waitress of the night club. She would not spend the rest of her days serving an irate, goofy old man! But she was afraid of what would happen if she would not obey.

One morning, right after the first cock-crow, the Emperor was surprised. He was working out his powerful muscles by lifting up the heavy plant pot, and was admiring his handsome figure from the mirror when Azile suddenly came in.

"Well, what do we have here!" she could not help sniggering at the Emperor, "We are not owies, anymore, are we?"

The Emperor flushed deep cherry and put his tautened biceps behind his back.

"Uh… Grhm… I was just… Gruff…"

Azile laughed and laughed, even hit her knee, "Y-you are so amusing, s-sometimes, Zurg! Whah hah haah!"

Zurg's air turned sober. How did that woman dare to poke fun at him? Did she not know who he was? Of course she knew.

"Stop that foolhardy hilarity, woman! Why did you not bang at the doorway? What if I would have been with no clothes on! Sufferable! Unacceptable!"

"Well, I don't have time to apologize you", was the answer with a suffocated giggle, "Here are your new purple trousers and your black T-shirt with the large Z-letter printed in the back."

"Ah, finally! This is a fine printing. And just the right color. Oh, Z… What a wonderful shape…" Zurg took the shirt into his hands and turned it about. He was very satisfied with the work. "But why did it take so long, Miss Gnir? I have told you to serve me hurriedly! I shall not forgive you, if this happens again!"

Azile had had an awful night at work and her nerves were tight, and this was totally the last drop. She could not restrain herself any more,

"Zurg, stop pretending like you were some rich emperor! Your empire has fallen! Fallen! And I am also soon in the same pathetic situation with you, if you continue asking me this kind of asinine services, like 'buy me a zigzag zictured zhirt' or 'purplevioletlilacblackwhatsoeverawfulcolor trousers'! I am not rich, either! So step down, Jerk! And get a life!"

Zurg was amazed and irritated about her fiery eruption. Were his requests somehow silly?

"What are you whining about, woman? My brain-pods and grubs never…"

"Aw, don't give me that nonsense! Try to realize the truth, dim-head! You've got no influence anymore, you have no riches! You are just an ordinary, ill-tempered, ludicrous, selfish and dull old chap!"

At the same instant Azile woke up to regret her words. Had she actually banged her head to the most evil man of the universe? And with what kind of words! She pressed her chin hard against her chest and inhaled deep, waiting what would follow.

"P-please… Don't punish my family for this…"

Zurg had indeed got offended. Long before Azile was over and done with her outburst. Grumblingly, he took two fast steps towards the nervous woman, and with one easy movement lifted her in the air from her upper arms. His eyes went razor-sharp streaks and his large hairy fists squeezed Azile's shoulders roughly. He brought his nose right against hers and nearly spitted, as the familiar, imperial rage gained power, "What do you know about my economic situation, or the influence I still possess in this galaxy, you foolish child? Actually I doubt if you know anything about anything! Working at a bar –in the age of nearly thirty! Oh, how marvelous advancements you have gained in career! Where did you begin, from the dishwasher's position? Besides, you should remember by now that nobody plays with me, least of all a chubby unattractive aboriginal! Never laugh at me again! Or I shall kill every member of your family!"

Azile sobbed, and her toes tried to reach the floor in vain.  Zurg got more furious and pressed her tiny body against the wall, "As soon as Darkmatter is here, we shall teach you how to behave! There are various interesting torture tools in Agent Z's right arm! Ah, this village is full of savages, worthless wretched savages!"

Azile felt now infuriated, too, and found the strength to reply. From the middle of her tears she yelled, "You are so abominable! So detestable! You are the savage, not me! We saved your evil-possessed soul from the certain death, but what do you give for us in return? Nothing but worry and hurry! Go away from here! We did not want you here! Go!"

With these words, she kicked the Emperor hard on the stomach with her knee. It did not hurt him, however, but only made her feel tinier than before. Zurg looked in her angry, glimmering eyes that were full of loathe and hatred, "You are right, I might as well go, then."

"Best news I have ever heard!"

He dropped the feeble woman indifferently onto the floor and she fell down on her knees. Then he turned his back on her and began to dress on a woolen pullover and boots.

"Y-you are r-really going?" Azile brokenly whispered, "Where?"

Zurg did not look at her but said with a low chest-tone, "Worry not about that, Miss Gnir. You have worried enough. Now I know exactly what I need to do. Thank you for this clarifying chat."

And he traipsed out of the room into the garden. Azile went to look after him, and she saw how the dark man jumped over the bush fence into the shades of the woodland. He was gone.

"What's this?" Azile grit her fingernails, "What's he going to do!"

The following night was one endless nightmare for Azile Gnir. First, her mother and father had blamed her for this event, they said it was her fault that he was gone. Were they not happy, then? No. They were very dissatisfied. They were both disappointed with the behavior of their daughter, as well as they were afraid what evil things would follow.

Secondly, Warp Darkmatter returned home. He marched into Zurg's bedroom, found it empty, and went silent. He did not speak a word to anybody during the whole evening; he did not eat, did not do anything but lie on the coach, watching the nightly sky from the window. His air was full of ferocity, flames! His eyes told he held the family responsible for the episode, but he did not lift a finger to revenge. He just sat still, as if waiting for something.

Also Adelante would not speak with Azile. She was mad, she had lost her good mood, for she had lost the fun of teasing Darkmatter that evening. She was also ashamed of her sister, she was afraid of the possibility that the incident would spread into the village, and people would start considering the Gnir House impolite. They could even take the leadership away from their father, before it was the time for the next ballot vote, and that would be a real shame! But it was a hard crime to send away an injured guest, and anything could happen.

And Azile was sad. Really sad. She was miserable that nobody wanted to be on her side. She regretted that she had spoken with words she did not even know she knew. It was a general rule in Maito to be always happy, always polite, always attentive. And Azile had broken it severely. Head leaning down, she left the Gnir House, towards her own empty home.

Before the midnight, it started raining. Little raindrops, then bigger. A little shower, then a storm. Azile rolled in her bed, thinking about how Emperor Zurg would survive. Had he found a shelter of some kind? Recklessly the woman closed her eyes and gained a slight state of sleeping.

Candlelight… The dim room… somebody is hurt… somebody lies next to her. Striking features, giving off darkness. Then suddenly a cozy wooden room… No furniture around, only one large mirror. Shadows grow… Shadows. And there, a man, tall and mighty. He comes closer, lifts her up like she was made of down. And just when he is about to kiss her, he disappears. Like wisp of smoke in the air. And she falls down. She falls, falls, falls…

"No! No! Don't go!" Azile jumped up, with her fine pajama glued onto her skin. Her breaths were quick and tense, her hands were sweating. "Oh… It was only a nightmare, only a dream…"

A bolt of thunder enlightened the sky, and her bedroom went white. She approached the window and tried to distinguish the road, which led towards her parent's house. The storm had wiped it away.

Emperor Zurg had sauntered in the woodland for many hours, without knowing his destination nor his reasons for escaping. The sky-scraping trees had made him feel insignificant; a feeling he had never known before. He had walked heedlessly around, trying to rage out all his fury, his disgust, his hatred.

Finally, at the sunset, he had found the old, woodless moor at the feet of the threatening mountains, blazing with brilliant colors of red, violet and orange. He had sat down on the soft mattress of heather, and let the cool marine breeze comfort his feelings. An astounding vista had spread in front of his eyes; far beneath the stormy ocean with foam-crested waves, the low-gliding, gray clouds and three miserable, wet eagles flying trough the miasma. Behind, the hardwood forest, with its uninviting secrets. Everything around him had been gray and elegiac. And then, it had started to rain.

But Zurg had not ran away from the drizzle. He had only lifted his face towards the sky and let the pure gentle raindrops wash away the poison from his polluted mind.

"Ah… I have not been in the mercy of nature for a long, long time… Actually, never before I ended up here, on Naboor", he sighed, and his aged features seemed to get a new kind of gleam. "At Z, there is no ocean… No trees… Not this magnificent, malevolent spectacle of natural world… No annoying women… Gruhh… I find this planet appealing, although it's galling me with its beauty!"

And the minutes, the hours glided by. Zurg had nothing to do but to admire the tempest, to think about his own life, to compare it with the lives of the people who lived here. He thought about his times past, the painful incidents of the distant years of youth, the time of chaos and power as the Emperor of Zeta Quadrant. Who was he now? What had he become here? Zurg woke up to the thought that he was turning good. He got terrified and shouted, pulling his hair,

"Trough the imperial metallic forests! I cannot forget who I am! I am EVIL EMPEROR ZURG! The forceful dictator of Zeta Quadrant, the worst enemy of the decent world! I am Emperor Zurg, the powerful, almighty, intelligent and handsome… AAARGGH!"

You are just and old man, you are weak-minded, impolite, harsh-looking and out of date. Look in the mirror, Zurg… Jerk… Jerk… Jerk… Azile's little pet name started to holler in his brains.

"STOP THAT! I am the hard, calculating, wise, witty, strong ruler of the purple worlds, I am… AARGHS!"

Again, something inside him made him quit the sentence. I am your conscience, Zored Lighteyar… Listen to me… Listen to your heart… Listen carefully…

The wails of the hundreds of aliens he had murdered, tortured, oppressed and insulted during the past three decades now flooded back into his mind, filling his senses with their strident and hollow voices. Hundreds of pairs of eyes, full of tears, agony, fear and pain, shaded with panic and pleading regards… They all now emerged in his vision, telling him their sad stories, reminding him of the miserable fates of their owners. Zurg… Zurg…Who are you? What have you done? What would your mother say?

"Mother… Nana..." the old man blurted silently.

Only the lonely maritime wind was there to console him now, dry his tears with gentle wafts.

"Nana Zurg..."

He shook his head. Nana Zurg was not real. She was a phantom, an imagined being. The creation of a young, self-made emperor, who still needed his mother's love and care… and who could not get it. Nana Zurg… She was a ghost, a faint hallucination in Emperor Zurg's mind, in his heart. He had never let go of his mother.

"My mother… forgive me, Zoshephina… Forgive me… I just can not let you go…"

You must, child… Zurg, you are still a little boy, playing with toys… except that your toys are rather deadly. Hornets are not toys, Zurg. You must let your mother go, let your childhood go…

"I cannot! I need her!"

But his conscience would not allow him to flee. All his evil creations, like the hornets, the hyper death ray, and the various torture devices, now seemed to turn against himself, for he felt the burn of the ray on his skin, the pain of the poisons inside his heart, the rockets of the robot warriors exploding in his stomach. You grew  up too early, Zurg. Now…Go back in your past, and let your beloved ones go. Don't mourn in the history… Think about what you still have got.

"I have got nothing! NOTHING! Not even my empire, anymore…"

Do not be blind, Zored… The voice of the little gentle pixie turned into a fragile whisper, There is… another… Lightyear…

Zurg found himself crying like a baby. "Another Lightyear…"

The rain got heavier, like did his flooding tears. The clouds battled together, beat each other with lightning bolts. Zurg looked up at them and admired the power of the nature. "Buzz… I want you to know…"

The figure of an old windmill in the distance seemed to disappear in the fog, but it did not. The world had changed, yet stayed the same. Emperor Zurg held the newborn feelings of  benevolence tightly in his heart, weeping at the beauty of the furious night.

…to be continued…