Coil scanned the message on his comn from Warp Darkmatter about a episode that they were in the middle of filming. It was quite enlightening discovering what Warp was doing, how he were feeling, how similar he were to XR, even when it pertained to his youth. The message ended with: And that's it. It was a message that helped greatly when it meant adapting a rather important event. A gap between the two Space Rangers forming, two separate lives, becoming more apparent by each confrontation before a new mission and after the new mission, were the writers aware of the secret? Or, were they intending on it in light of the information that Warp revealed and had been debunked by Evil Emperor Zurg himself?
Coil wasn't sure, even as he kept the secret, portraying a spy, but it was causing him to make selective choices in portraying the Space Ranger. Coil arrived on set observing the star portraying Buzz Lightyear, Hank Springer, leaning beside a desk surrounded by other stars, many people dressed up as hornets, practical effects in heavy use, waiting for the scene to begin shooting. Springer sipped a drink through a straw leaning against a rock.
"Where's De'jaciia?" Coil asked.
"Probably still at Tradeworld." Springer shrugged.
"At the criminal hub?" Coil furrowed his brows.
"Said they wanted some smuggled out Planet Z sauce for their ribs."
"Isn't . ." Coil tilted his head. "De'jaciia a cyborg?"
"Doesn't stop them." Springer reminded.
"What could be holding them up?" Coil looked toward the confines of the set then his shoulders loosened. "Good god, they are gonna need some rescuing by the real Warp Darkmatter!"
"Really shaping up to be that way." Springer commented earning a look from Coil. "Heard he got taken by some small insects a couple hours ago by some tabloids."
"Sweet Venus, we're never going to get them back!" Coil exclaimed. "Zurg is using them for something!"
"They'll be back, pretty soon, and we can all forget about this incident." Springer looked toward him with a grin. "Zurg isn't behind every single misfortune that's fallen behind this production."
"Maybe," Coil added, folding his arms, glancing toward the stage across from them, built with practical effects, capable of hovering, for the cyborg, waiting to be occupied. "it wasn't such a good idea to model their new acting body after the evil emperor."
The lone dreadnought flew away from Planet Z drawing the attention of the two cadets who were just arriving to the planet. The car flew on after the dreadnought winding up hooked along the hull on the side of the side of the ship. The ship was in transit for a few short hours until it exited light speed then went on to impulse power. Raptor Chill disembarked out of the vehicle then pressed a button once Milky Weight exited and the car flew off becoming only a distant specter tagging behind the craft. The duo exchanged a look then proceeded to climb the ship stalking it for a way to enter.
A door opened, a grub taking out trash, then the duo flung themselves into the ship with Milky in the lead, hands on wrist laser, Raptor behind him balancing himself on the floor with all six fingers bearing a smirk. The duo proceeded to run in the direction of the fleet of hornets firing after them running for the throne room of the ship. Raptor was knocked aside by a hornet then the other hornet clashed their arm against Milky's back knocking him down as well. The two cadets were dragged to the throne room as they came to then were greeted by a fairly more iconic sight. The throne was more fierce, more gothic, darker, with a spotlight shining above the emperor's helm. His purple helm glint in the moody aesthetic.
"Evil Emperor Zurg, I knew you're up to somethin-"
"What makes you think I am remotely Emperor Zurg?"
His voice was different, it sounded more mechanical, less human, less familiar, more consumed in evil, deeper.
"What kind of question is that?"
The figure descended down the stairs in a familiar outfit that was jarring, a choice of clothing that Raptor and Milky hadn't seen him in years.
"A fairly good one."
His hands were linked behind his back.
"I'm not Evil Emperor Zurg."
"Then who are you?"
"The impostor!"
"Lies!" A drone restrained Raptor. "The impostor wouldn't have that voice or be able to make energy out of thin air!"
"I am the impostor, been that for a few year now," Zurg shrugged in response with one hand on his hip. "the original Zurg came back from a vacation."
"This is moonrocks!" Raptor exclaimed.
"Sweet rain of Venus, is this how cadets speak these days?" Zurg turned his attention toward Milky.
"He doesn't even talk like him, Raptor." Milky said. "Zurg doesn't swear that way."
"He's pretending not to be him!" Raptor exclaimed. "He is literally pulling our legs."
"My mother taught me lying is terrible for the soul," Zurg loomed over the cadets with a glare.
"Raptor, that impostor literally swore." Milky said.
"Zurg can swear like a sailor with innocent things, like pearls, diamonds, gems, gold-"
"Emperor Zurg has a very distinctive voice." Zurg insisted turning away, shaking his finger. "We are two different people."
"You're literally using your pure evil voice." Raptor argued then motioned toward the evil emperor. "And he is using his mannerisms!"
"Not."
"Too!"
"Not."
"Too!"
"Not."
Raptor sighed, lifting his head up, exasperated.
"When did he leave?" Raptor finally relented, stretching his arms out then set his hands on his hips. "If you're not him."
"Shortly after his Space Ranger left. Poor android, never seen someone broke up like that, how did he die? I've neglected to learn."
Raptor squinted back at Zurg, skeptical, folding his arms.
"How much has he been paying you?" Raptor asked.
"Per week. . ." He rubbed his helm, looking aside. "five thousand four hundred fifty-five uni-bucks."
"That's a lot." Milky commented.
"A whole lot of uni-bucks," Raptor commented with a nod. "over four years, you must be set."
"Bored of being rich, trading places with the genuine article who has just returned, this android needs to go out and never be found." He turned back toward them, glaring, a dark mood resting above his helm. "Never."
"Was it worth it pretending to be him?" Milky asked.
"It was fun being Evil Emperor Zurg while it lasted." Zurg confessed looking up from where the two cadets stood, fondly, nostalgic, toward the doorway, imagining Team Darkmatter running to ruin his evil plans. Fully expecting to when he least expected it and they did not show up "Going to miss being him."
"Pretty sure there's a regulation about pretending to be a evil emperor." Milky noted, holding up a finger.
"Don't be a spoil sport on the surface of Venus." Zurg said, the words felt out of place, leaning forward pointing a long claw toward Raptor, but at the same time it were fitting. "Shoo."
"Uh, our ride is quite a ways away." Milky held up a finger.
"Then fly off to it!" Zurg demanded.
"That would require stopping this dreadnought that you stole." Milky said, smugly.
"Hornets, fling off one of the cadets toward the direction of the vehicle tagging this vessel."
"Raptor!" Milky was drawn away from Raptor by two hornets, another duo restrained Raptor, making sure they were parted.
"Hey!" Raptor struggled with all his might, the weight that the machines had was tremendous, shocking. "Let me go!"
"Relax, he's not going to be tortured." Then Zurg added, fondly, with a evil laugh at the memory. "Almost reminds me of how Buzz Lightyear would react whenever taking his partner prisoner."
"You are Evil Emperor Zurg!" Raptor glared back at the evil emperor.
"Not!" Zurg denied.
"Only he would do something that evil!" Raptor shot back.
"We will be entering the black hole in one moment." one of the grubs announced.
Raptor turned in the direction of the black hole that caused the ship to tremble, as Zurg remained still, the hornets remained grounded. The evil emperor held his shoulders up, observing the eye of the black hole, surrounded by a blue disk instead of the iconic red one that made up the orange cat like gaze from a telescope lightyears away. He clenched his servos then freed them gleefully, rubbing them together, his figure vibrating with laughter.
"Good news, if I validate your belief, you will be overjoyed." Zurg turned toward the cadet.
Raptor's hopes soared and then there was single handedly terror that crashed upon him.
"Bad news, you're going to be hunted down by a Evil Buzz Lightyear regarding my whereabouts eventually and be horribly tortured." Zurg tipped his hand over as he laid it out to the cadet then shrugged and leaned further, emphasizing, the harshness of the situation. "Your choice; go with me to the future -" then he pointed toward the doorway with a glare. "or be in the past!"
Raptor looked toward the entrance then toward the window.
"Past, any day!" Raptor cried.
Raptor fled as the evil emperor remained seated in the throne.
"Let's demonstrate to the future how evil never dies, shall we?" Zurg requested, pleased. "Send the emergency evacuation order for non-essential personnel." then he added in the next comment. "Evacuate as soon as hull breach is ongoing."
He clenched his fist, laughing, enjoying the evil.
"This android is going where no Ranger has gone before." Zurg said.
Zurg picked up his sole large luggage, looking on, toward the center as the ship was abandoned freely flying toward the center as the grubs fled in their evacuation pods. Raptor departed the dreadnought, wings blasting on, chasing after the vehicle that was spiraling toward his direction. Zurg aimed his plasma blaster at the top of the ship then flew out, in a different general direction, following the math that had been given to him by the brainpods. Behind Zurg, the dreadnought was destroyed once it fell through in to the center. And Zurg had left all the quadrants behind.
Raptor looked back, grimacing, then shook his head, turning his attention on. He flew after the vehicle, struggling against the gravity of the black hole, screaming, as the crystals gave it their all to counter the forces. He got closer to the vehicle with one hand stretched out screaming as he made the sweet release of the black hole flying directly toward the vehicle., now spiraling. The door to the car was opened then a stray hand caught him by the wrist, steered sideways, then moved on from the black hole.
"Star Command is really gonna be interested in this report."
"A lot interested." Raptor looked back. "Think I'm gonna . . . miss. . . him."
"That impostor is hardly going to be missed." Milky said with a laugh then pressed a series of buttons and the roof opened.
Raptor was flung in to the back seat and the roof reappeared.
"Impostor or not, the genuine article is going to genuinely going to be really retro."
Zurg came to, in a solid gray room, resting on a odd curled bed. There were beeps, sounds of shuffling, his optics powering on, the room indicating it had sufficient oxygen for lifeforms that may reside in the quarters with him. He spotted his large suitcase, noticing a familiar face wasn't peeking out of the pockets, and then he started to panic. Dread filled the air as the bed that he rested on felt as if it could collapse, the entire building collapsing on him as well, his entire being felt more delicate, flickers of heat from his optics destroying the cameras in his newly given quarters, portraits burning around him, scared in a bright room, his optics searching for means of escape until his gaze fixated on a familiar small cowboy hat on the floor. The heat in his optics lowered.
He slid up from the bed, easily ripping off the binds that bound him down, then approached the toy. Carefully, he picked up the cowboy then pressed him into his chassis. His figure relaxed, the tension in every circuit, fiber, and atom in him went away. And there was relatively confidence that replaced all the uncertainty in his being. He moved through the area, picking up his luggage swinging it to his side, then his laser vision tore a hole in the wall and made his escape. There were people decorating the halls in strange garb, mainly blue fabric with the Star Command wings zoomed in, the familiar bulb at the center of them, some had starships, they fled as he walked down the hallway, screaming in terror.
The emperor paused, upon a small child, staring up at him.
"How old was Warp Darkmatter when he died?"
The child stared at him in awe.
"You're sad."
"Not."
"Are too."
"Are not."
"Are too."
"Little child, answer my question or you won't have any EYES."
"Three hundred fifty-five, sir." was the reply that startled Zurg. "No, actually, it could have been two hundred." The emperor glared upon the child. "He was really old when he shed his mortal form reaching for infinity and beyond."
"EVIL WINS!" He pumped his fist in the air. "I did it!" Zurg cheered, loudly, excitedly. "I won! I won!"
"Are you Evil Emperor Zurg?"
"Still am."
"What was it like to fight Buzz Lightyear?"
"It . . was. . . the best. . . time . . . of my life." it came out slowly, with reluctance, with sorrow, with his shoulders lowering. "Darkmatter was, less fun, but entertaining."
He looked aside toward the portrait of a much older Warp Darkmatter, bearing the saturn ring on his notable silver Space Ranger bust, with XR and XR's larger reformed brother, XL, by his sides in a official Star Command approved holophotograph. The commander bore a big smirk, proud, happy, and content. Mira and Booster were equally as aged only Mira wasn't a Space Ranger anymore, yet she were still included. The sentiment still carried in Star Command for ex-Space Rangers.
The evil emperor's shoulders raised, recognizing more faces, faces that he had seen during his evil plans, cadets, rookies, captains. And then, he saw, among the faces was a captain with a familiar face, standing in the center, with a fine long scar above his brows, purple cap and all, with a small mustache, bearing a familiar smile. He recognized four other additional faces that strongly resembled Buzz Lightyear to the captain's side. They had followed in Buzz Lightyear's footsteps creating and maintaining a good environment for the people.
There were many Space Rangers that were largely missing. A number of them who hadn't made the long years since Zurg had last seen them. Lost in the line of duty, possibly, even Raptor Chill. Milky Weight had a empty space beside him, his small stature standing out, small bust, alone, older, summoning a fake smile, his features only showing hurt. The kind someone wore when they had been recently betrayed. Zurg put his hand on the holographic portrait, proudly, it featured beings from worlds that he terrorized, with a possible path to the Galactic Alliance.
And now, he were back, to terrorize them.
Oh, this is going to be fun.
He left the building.
"Is it true?" XR asked.
"I. . ." Warp was at a loss of words for himself, processing, questioning everything. Let alone his sanity, whether it were happening, whether he were real, it was the kind of report that shook everything to the ground regarding Zurg's entire being. "Don't know, XR."
"We haven't been facing Zurg?" Booster asked. "It's impossible."
"But, it is not improbable." Mira said. She briefly closed her eyes, shaking her head, bitter, standing up from the table. "Don't get it!"
"Get what?" Booster asked, his attention on the Tangean.
"It feels like someone died," she rubbed her forehead then stretched her hands out then lowered them. "No one has."
"Could be because the 'impostor' that we have faced is gone." XR suggested, holding a lone finger up. "Forever."
"I don't get it either." Warp confessed, his shoulders lowering, shaking his head. "Only Zurg would make Agent Z." He grimaced at the memory as XR stared at his padd. "There were things said only he would know."
"Do we really know Zurg?" Booster asked, as Warp stared on, heavily questioned by the lone thought and his mind searching for when the impostor could have taken over, genuinely, for the grieving emperor. "What if the impostor has been around longer?"
"That's like saying for the last forty-three years, Zurg's been gone this entire time!" Mira exclaimed, setting her hands on her hips.
"He did have a unique rise to power," Booster reminded Mira as XR grimaced.
"And you call appearing out of no where and embedding himself in the empire over time as unique?" Mira asked.
"He literally took over." Booster said.
"Uh, guys. . . you know that person who portrayed Evil Emperor Zurg in Buzz Lightyear Of Star Command?"
Everyone shifted their attention toward the android,
"Yes."
"Apparently, they're missing."
Warp squinted.
"I say he was running scared." Warp said.
"If he's running scared, that would mean something more evil is coming." Mira acknowledged.
"Doesn't it?" Booster chimed in.
"Uh huh, which also, makes it easy to take down his empire from here." Warp's tone turned optimistic and bright. "We'll call it a favor for him and defeat the bigger evil in no time flat."
"That's cheating." XR pointed out.
"And the only way to get that android off the throne. What?" Warp shrugged. "Take, seven days to do?"
"It's a generous number." Booster added.
"We're gonna arrest a actor, make them portray Zurg at his arraignment, his trial, then being sent to hail, and return to set?" Mira asked, incredulously.
"All in that order." Warp asked.
"What if. . ." Mira started to suggest. "the actor was the one who went through the black hole and we could have saved them?"
"Doubt. It." Warp said. "Either way, Zurg had a hand in the abduction of the actor."
"An actor would be over their head to accept pretending to be a very dangerous figure!" Mira pointed out. "It's a trick." she approached the window, imagining it in her mind, her suspicions arisen. "That's what he is doing by making us think he is gone and then, bam," She smacked her fist against the palm of her hand. "he got us, he gets Star Command Access codes by acting, and we're doomed."
Booster rolled his eyes as did Warp.
"It was Evil Emperor Zurg, Mira." Booster said, annoyed.
"We don't have enough evidence on that." Mira said, leaning forward her hands on the table, facing Warp.
Warp stood up from the seat.
"Let's do some investigating on this 'Evil Emperor Zurg' and scoop out some tangible evidence that this assumption is correct." Afterwards, the Space Ranger added with a smirk. "If you're right, I will personally go and get them back."
"According to the sensor readings of the vehicle, there was a foreign object that flung around the black hole out of the dreadnought." XR interjected.
"With a shuttle." Warp continued as he turned away from the crew. "Alone."
"No, you're not." XR, Mira, Booster, said at once.
"Star Command forbids slingshots maneuvers!" Booster said.
Warp had his back to his team as walked away with a scowl planted on his features at the reminder.
"I will not because it was Zurg, Mira." then he added. "And Buzz Lightyear wrote it after I did that to send a criminal into the next century."
Mira was visibly irritated as the captain left the lounge, her fingers twitching, her eyebrows twitching.
"Mira," Booster started to say, gently, placing his hand on her shoulder. "For all things considered, you have a really good compelling argument."
"Evidence before action," she folded her arms, scowling, glaring at the window, with a big sigh. "the atrocities that this regulation caused."
"If he's right, I will personally take you to that dreamer nebula with your girlfriend Hyla and a girlfriend of mine has been dying to go, too."
Mira turned toward Booster then smiled.
"Been a while since letting back and enjoying the scenic routes." Mira confessed looking aside then back.
"What you need is a good old fashioned vacation," Booster said.
Mira slowly shifted toward Booster glaring at him resting her hands on her hips.
"I'm not going to that mood planet!"
"The mood garden is wonderful!"
"No."
"Mira."
"No!"
"If you fall to stress, Warp will authorize you to see Dr Animus," Booster wiggled his finger. "no ifs or buts about it."
Mira marched on past Booster who only looked at her in amusement as XR shook his head.
"She is stubborn like Buzz Lightyear." XR noted.
"Five uni-bucks that Warp fights her on the way to the shuttle." Booster said.
"Fifty uni-bucks that Warp wins." XR said.
"Deal." Booster shook XR's hand.
