Zurg selected a date, the quantum number that the escaped Darkmatter had then changed a single number, then had the rebuilt tunnel extraction system powered up. The portal displayed the uni-mind, the Space Ranger flying away from Mira, Booster, XR, and a collection of additional angry Space Rangers being lead by Nebula calling him, "Murder!", "Traitor!", "BACKSTABBING SPY!" as he fled on a field of panic then his features changed to alarm as he flew through the portal then crashed against the wall with a yelp as the portal to his world became blocked and another portal was opened. Warp turned off his helmet then sobbed in his hand, loudly, hunched over, resting on his knees.
Zurg watched as another Warp Darkmatter flew out, carrying a LGM with a smirk, then the evil emperor rose his finger up and the portal switched to the one that the first Warp Darkmatter, the recently turned rogue Space Ranger, made a sharp turn and flew back in on autopilot mode not really paying attention to his surroundings only the fact that there was a wall in the wall. Zurg picked up the first Warp Darkmatter by the leg then made another hand motion and the portal that the second version had exited opened up once more as the Space proceeded to struggle against the grip.
"Let me go!"
"Let this be a lesson to you, Warp Darkmatter." Zurg hissed.
"You ruined my life!" Warp struggled then aimed his wrist laser at him and the evil emperor rolled his optics as the shots landed on his cape.
"Don't lie about the anniversary to me when we meet again." Zurg turned toward the Space Ranger then grabbed him by the wrists and crushed his left wrist. "Or risk losing everything."
"I have nothing left to lose!" Warp shot back.
"Lies." Zurg said as he turned away from the door, ominously, continuing that train of thought. "Plenty to lose."
"I told them about working for you since the academy as you used the turned uni-mind to make Gamma Quadrant evil. Angry about that?" he glared at the evil emperor. "Beyond petty."
Zurg paused then pressed on the side of the helmet then the glass window returned.
"That was your version of Star Command and I, Darkmatter." Zurg said as Warp looked toward the portal then his yellow eyes widened. "After this, what's next?" he leaned back, tapping on his audio synthesizer, looking aside, then his shoulders raised, as Warp proceeded to lift his fore arm toward his wrist laser. "Doing something far more petty than this." Zurg swung the Space Ranger into the portal. "Buh-bye."
Zurg waved at the figure that vanished from his line of sight as he started to laugh then stretched his arms, gleefully, enjoying the evil moment as the gate closed.
"Why do we have to attend Warp Darkmatter's speedy trial?" XR asked.
"Because there's a chance he'll renounce working for the likes of evil." Buzz replied
"Why does he have a scar along his face?" XR noted, squinting, perplexed. "He didn't have a scar yesterday."
"There is such thing as make up, XR." Mira reminded with a laugh. "Pretty easy to imagine from here." then she shrugged before adding. "He could have been in a fight recently."
"Just find it odd that the only time that he has had scars is when he is stripped of everything, and I mean, literal everything. Muscle, armor, hair-"
"What are you talking about?" Mira cut off the android. "We've never seen him that way, XR."
"I have." XR said.
"When?" Booster asked, as Buzz and Mira lifted a brow.
"Uh, quite awhile ago." XR said.
"XR. . ." Buzz asked, slowly, looking toward the android. "is there something I should know?"
XR was quiet, looking aside, determining for himself with a slight problem.
"There's either two of him but that's simply impossible." he stretched his arms out then folded them turning his head away. "Not like Zurg would snatch a version of Warp Darkmatter with both arms," Mira gaped then turned her attention toward the giant who only bore a look of sincere concern. "or clone him for no reason."
"Both can co-exist as a thought and be perplexing and diabolical and a trick." Buzz acknowledged.
Booster didn't say a word as he grimaced about the matter. Warp wanted this, he had turned himself in, he had made the choice. Was it the same Ranger Darkmatter that had sent him away? He looked back at the tale that had been retold by his colleagues from months ago about how a version, apparently, of Nana Lightyear had gone through the portal going fast as she could. He looked toward the tormented soul, could he have gotten him back? Yes, Evil Emperor Zurg was capable of anything. Booster set a hand on Mira's shoulder stopping her from speaking up, reluctantly, then gestured toward the third party in the chair. Mira grimaced before nodding in agreement. It was his choice, after all, to be in this mess and he wanted to be in it, to face the punishment, it was painfully obvious.
Booster could only watch as the sentence was delivered, the judge scolded Warp, and the ex-Space Ranger seemed to be content. If he were a starfish then he would most likely be sprawled out, relaxing, losing all the fight, the tension, resting there, basking in the sun. Large, gentle, and full of relief. Booster looked away, unable to watch the ex-Space Ranger be guided out of the champion as Mira closed her eyes, her arms folded, while XR and Buzz Lightyear watched it unfold with disappointment and sorrow on the team captain's side. Warp was bearing a smirk, pleased, keeping his head up, unlike the last time it had been a lowered head, full of sorrow, unable to show his face, this time, he were basking in the acceptance of his role being the mole. He looked better than he had before. Zurg wasn't going to interfere, neither was his counterpart, he didn't matter as before, he wasn't their main subject of concern, he had escaped, fair and square, and Zurg was still wounded from losing to him.
Zurg traveled through the portal, over and over, and over, going to the specific moment in time that he wanted to revisit, and perform the same action over and over, and over many times with some rest in between. It was the best way to extract his anger, to remove it, to demonstrate it, so his mercenary wouldn't have to face it. Darkmatter was on personal time, performing mercenary related tasks that Zurg had requested, paying little schemes upon Buzz Lightyear and his crew in between each visit. What was the visit in question that he did through the multiverse? He went through the portal, arrived to the crater that was blowing up, the two becoming separated, Buzz Lightyear leaping out of the way of falling debris, Warp Darkmatter being surrounded by hornets getting closer to one of the fireworks until Zurg picked up a sharp object and stabbed him in the back, "Buzz!" that brought Buzz Lightyear's attention as the Space Ranger fell, unprompted, his hand clenching the wound, then leaving the way that he had came before the Space Ranger could arrive. It was a very petty way of releasing that anger.
The ex-Space Ranger had gotten the best of him. Finally, after doing this thousands of times, the evil emperor selected a different date, his throne room, with a series of numbers that were similar to this one that he lived in. The details, they had to be different. He exited the chamber, it was a lab full of projects that the evil brainpods were working on. His perfect hub of scientists. All was well as he spotted two brainpods flee, quickly, terrified. He took his time strolling toward the throne room admiring the pieces of his world that remained identical as it had been before it had been destroyed-it hadn't been destroyed here. It was a pleasing thought to the evil emperor who overheard the two brainpods speaking from alongside the doorway listening them trying to tell his counterpart that he were there. He entered, the brainpods parted ways.
"This is scheming hour!" his counterpart stood up. "Who dare interrupts the all powerful Evil Emperor Zurg!"
"It's four, it's admiring hour." Zurg said.
"Me!" His counterpart stood up, erect, excited, clasping his claws, his optics shining then stretched his arms out in glee. "MY FAVORITE PERSON IN THE MULTIVERSE!"
"Did he answer your question?" Zurg asked.
His counterpart's hands closed then slowly started to descend down to his side leaning forward.
"Who is he and what question are you referring to?" his counterpart asked.
"THE question about the anniversary." Zurg said.
"What anniversary?" his counterpart descended down the throne then approached Zurg. "Is there a surprise party going on?"
"No, no, no," Zurg sighed, then rubbed the top of his helm before elaborating. "Space Ranger Darkmatter."
"Yes, I have him." Was the reply.
"The one you ordered Darkmatter to steal from the hole?"
"Yes, that Space Ranger." He sounded utterly proud of himself. Not the proudest achievement in hindsight, the ex-Space Ranger gave him a headache. Was it worth having him abducted? No. Not really. "Still have him." he clenched his claws then turned aside looking toward the screen displaying the view of Star Command. "He should be ready to give me the access codes in a few short days."
"Impressive." Zurg noted, quietly. "He didn't mention the anniversary to you."
"What anniversary?" his counterpart asked.
"That's a very good question that I have been torturing him for the best part of a year." Zurg confessed.
"Did he die on you?" a really genuine question that got on his nerves.
"Escaped, actually."
"HE ESCAPED? HOW?" he motioned his arms toward him, his hands clenching, demonstrating his rage, then flailed his fists at him. "How did he escape from the oubliette?"
"He was in a cell." Zurg lied, his arms folded against his chassis, looking aside, embarrassed. "Darkmatter wasn't in that very fancy and last resort option."
"I've had him in there for three years!" the counterpart stretched his arms out, downwards, instead of upwards, his claws clenched against the palm of his servos with one servo holding out three fingers for emphasis.
Zurg winced, a big number, a number that would ideally leave him raw, wounded, and be unable to be entertaining to his respective Evil Emperor Zurg.
"How long ago was the moon of doom?" Zurg asked.
"Ten years." A far simple number.
"And he's been down there. . ." he shifted toward the screen, not much of Star Command had changed, to his view. "for. . ." He shifted toward his counterpart. "three years?"
"He's going mad!" He was so proud of the announcement, and for good reason. "It's needed to make him talk."
"The access codes have likely changed, here's a idea that you can use." Zurg set his arm alongside his counterpart's shoulder, invading his personal space. "Send him through the hole," he pointed toward the view screen that displayed the hole with damaged ships around it. "wait a few weeks," he shrugged as he withdrew from his counterpart dusting his hands off. "fake his death," he set his hands on his hips that he swung from side to side for dramatic effect. "and he'll sing like a canary."
"It has occurred to me, changing the access codes twice a year."
"But. . . ."
"That could be a lie! They may never change their access codes at all!"
"Innovative."
"My belief."
"Then let's try asking him and see his answer about the anniversary? If his world is anything like the Ranger Darkmatter, he may be ready to talk about it."
"And you've had him for a year."
"One year and seven months to be exact. He's been saying things like my grandson is the anniversary!"
"We don't have a grandson!"
"That's exactly the problem."
"You poor poor poor evil emperor being trolled by a Space Ranger." His counterpart patted him on the shoulder. "Let's pay a visit to the prisoner."
"Where is he, anyway?"
"That uncharted moon from ten years ago; there's a section of it, concealed, with oxygen, built, designed, to hold oxygen and hold life. . . I have a personalized version of that cell in the basement- where are you going?"
"To the basement, Evil Emperor Zurg."
"Sure, let's just get the matter in order."
"Don't send Darkmatter to the task."
"Why not?"
"Has he seen your really nasty side?"
". . . fair enough." his counterpart confessed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Haven't been checking up on Darkmatter in years, later time that I asked-"
"And might I suggest Barlos Methane?" Zurg cut him off, he knew the defiant Space Ranger well. "She can handle seeing sights like these."
His counterpart tapped his claws together, she was well known, someone who went under the radar, below his radar. She wasn't quite interested in helping the well off get what they wanted, only those who had nothing to their name, their reputation ruined, socially broke, even as they were surrounded by riches, and people who had not a lot of money to pay as if she had been saving funds for these rainy day missions. He departed the chamber, then awaited at the elevator, his counterpart joining him in a hot pink cardigan. The evil emperors descended down the elevator until making it to the bottom directly at the basement. Zurg followed his counterpart to where the oubliette was, it was a large hole, big enough to drop in somebody inside no matter their width or size, the large door that had been closed gave it the effect of a narrow square passageway. Zurg looked in spotting thorns peeking out of the wall down into the chamber.
It was ruthless and frightening. He admired his counterpart, he didn't have that. His counterpart had been planning for transfer for some time; in contrast, he liked having his prisoners above ground and be able to be visited to see their well being withering before his optics. It was a admirable trap that made his counterpart laugh, then the sound of a familiar hornets drew their attention at once, Warp's figure came into view with his head hung donning the familiar black and purple prisoner uniform. The Space Ranger was dropped to the ground with a thud then lifted himself up, his eyes widened, looking back and forth, narrowed, became exasperated, and finally, annoyed, until his eyes landed on the other Zurg. He had a big afro, his chin hair had long longer, puffier, curlier, with the silver in his hair standing out more than it had with the younger version of himself. His legs looked thinner, smaller, not as muscular, as if he hadn't used them in years, weak for that matter.
"Sweet mother of Venus, this is out of control!" Warp announced, raising his head. "Now there's two of them!"
"What is the anniversary back at your world, Darkmatter?" Zurg's counterpart asked.
"The . . ." Warp looked down, in shame, sorrow, regret, trembling, his features changing. "anniversary."
"Yes, the anniversary." was his counterpart's reply, his arms folded, sighing. "Let's get this off the table before dealing with one important matter that has kept you detained."
"Ranger Darkmatter has refused to tell me what it were in the beginning." Zurg said.
"It's. . . It's. . . It's the day that. . . I killed Buzz Lightyear." Warp confessed, closing his eyes, his head lowered, looking aside, ashamed.
"That's a lie." Zurg announced as the Space Ranger was knocked aside by a electrical ball from the evil emperor. "He has told me many lies." Warp struggled to lift himself up but was knocked down by another electrical ball. "Many." the Space Ranger felt sore all over from the repeated strikes. "MANY lies!"
"This is sincere, Evil Emperor Zurg." was the argument by the emperor as the Space Ranger collapsed as the counterpart stretched his arm out. "You're in denial!"
"In DENIAL?" Zurg roared then motioned toward the fallen Space Ranger "How can you say that when there's a defiant Space Ranger?"
"He's been alone for the last three years." was the counter argument. "Only had food thrown into his cell and had a waste hole, he's smell nothing but his urine and his own waste, and only himself for company!" he motioned toward the hole below them with his claws then stood in front of the Space Ranger with his back toward him acting as a shield. "And yes, this goes to show the access codes are worth the loneliness-" he motioned back toward the oubliette. "Because every month in the first year, at the end of it, I would ask, and he would troll me!"
"And you believe him?" Zurg asked in disbelief.
"Ion. . ."
"Don't Ion me!"
His counterpart let his name hang there, softly, as Warp's eyes widened then looked up toward them.
"That's guilt talking." His counterpart sounded wiser, more level headed, more better, less irritated, and not as annoyed by the ex-Space Ranger. "You and I know how that sounds. It's sweet, it's delicious." he rubbed his claws together taking a step forward. "We've both mocked Buzz Lightyear for it." he motioned a claw toward the ceiling then lowered it. "We still have our Buzz Lightyear," he clasped his hands together dipping them down. "it's not like -" he started to laugh as he set his hands on his hips. "-you've faked the death of the one last piece of normalcy."
Zurg looked aside, quiet, for a long moment that stretched on for a hour.
"What if I did?" Zurg asked, tapping his claws together, sheepishly.
His counterpart stared at him as he stepped back, quickly, stepping over Warp, making it to the entrance, stepping on the tired Space Ranger's back.
"May the Phoenix have mercy on your soul."
Zurg stepped forward then motioned toward Warp.
"That's not entirely a bad thing." Zurg reminded. "Can always put him back."
His counterpart only saw the dominoes were falling in place and his downfall was happening somewhere in the multiverse as a distant background noise.
"He has NOTHING TO LOSE." it was the sharp reminder.
"Does not!"
"Buzz Lightyear is dead!" he walked around the Space Ranger swiping a hand in the air.
"That doesn't matter." Zurg argued back.
"There is no balance." He held his claw out then closed it then picked up a piece of material then proceeded to roll it up. "There was no slowly finding a new Space Ranger to favor terrorizing between him!" His counterpart tossed the ball aside then linked his hands behind his back then walked around Zurg. "There was no easing the pain of time passing by him until Buzz Lightyear is a distant specter of a past gone by and living his last precious years being a good man!" he paused on the gate leaning forward with emphasis stretching his arms out then folded his arms. "His empire means nothing without a nemesis."
"He isn't dead!" Zurg shouted back.
"What's less terrifying than a Evil Buzz Lightyear?" His counterpart began to approach him with rapid step.
"A Evil Mira Nova." Warp and Zurg said at once.
"No." it came out with a single word as Zurg was pinned against the wall by his counterpart who's arm was alongside him and a hand on the wall. "It's a mad Evil Emperor Zurg." His counterpart paused for effect, holding his free claw out, palm open, then clenched it, his bright optics glowing brightly for emphasis. "What have you. . . done?"
Warp took satisfaction in the evil emperor being cornered. However small the moment it were, it made not telling worth it.
"Evil." Zurg said. "And you're jealous of me."
"Yes." was the confession from his counterpart as he folded his arms. "If what we can surmise is true. . ." he let it hang then shifted his attention toward his counterpart. "you're hard to beat."
"More evil than you are!" Zurg clenched his hands, gleefully, waving his hips from side to side, laughing in the glory.
The counterpart turned in the direction of Warp who had propped himself up to his knees.
"The access codes, Darkmatter." the counterpart said as he approached the Space Ranger. "Or you are staying here forever."
Warp looked toward the grate with a grimace then back toward the counterpart.
"You win." Warp relented, lowering his head, reluctantly.
Zurg's counterpart laughed, thrilled, enjoying the moment, then rubbed his claws as the Space Ranger gave out the access codes. Zurg looked on skeptically toward the Space Ranger instead of congratulating his counterpart and feeling the same happiness. It was too good to be true.
The door to the chamber flung open then a familiar figure in purple armor stood in the hallway, helmet retracting to reveal it were Agent Z. He had the familiar purple chassis, he had metal arms, and metal legs, while his most sensitive parts like his lower abdomen and thighs were covered in a film of red, and a red hood covered his hair. His counterpart stared in horror as he stepped back observing the visible scar on the ex-Space Ranger's forehead. He bore a very unhappy look, lifting his gray arms that turned into plasma blasters, aiming for the evil emperors, his brown eyes filled with visible anger toward them.
"BUZZ LIGHTYEAR?" The Evil Emperors cried.
"Agent Z, actually." Agent Z replied as he fired at the two emperors who bolted out of the way.
"This is all your fault!" his counterpart announced hiding behind a cargo container.
"I didn't hold him for three years!" Zurg stepped out of his hiding place then his arm transformed into a blaster and fired at the ex-Space Ranger.
"You ordered Darkmatter to take him!" his counterpart jabbed his finger toward him. "All your fault!"
"Been wondering how it would be like to face off with my own agent, anyway." Zurg shrugged it off.
Zurg was the first to land the first attack as the cyborg flew up firing shot after shot. The evil emperor dodged then lead a charge after him knocking him down while his counterpart dragged the Space Ranger out of the room by motioning in the hornets then directly motioning them out. Warp was tired, defeated, his mind not as sharp as it had once been, for remaining in the dark with not a soul, unsure if anything were real. Zurg being Ion Lightyear? That was the stuff of fantasy. The counterpart held him the way of a football player carrying a football as the Space Ranger could only scream at the unfortunate chain of events that, to his misfortune, felt very real.
Zurg chased Agent Z through the corridor as the helmet was turned back on, the hornets suffering the damage, brainpods fleeing, grubs running for dear life, and the counterpart picked up the Space Ranger along his side making a bolt for it with his claws in fists going up the tower, extracting the suit that the Space Ranger had arrived in, then returned darting through the corridor. Agent Z shoved Zurg against the wall then kicked him off in the nick of time so that the blaster aimed at the roof above them and landed a nice sized hole. Zurg tackled him down to the ground, grabbing hold on to his wrist with one leg pinning down the cyborg's arm to the side as Zurg reached his claw. Agent Z yanked his arm forward, a handful of his helm, clenching it, digging into it, then performed a kick into the torso knocking him back sending the evil emperor back and fired his plasma blaster after him with the moving target returning fire dodging the blasts.
"I am mopping up after myself!" his counterpart cried, running fast as he can, even running past Darkmatter into the throne room who had just come back from personal time to get more funds. "Don't shoot ME!"
"Who's shooting who?" Darkmatter asked.
"DON'T SHOOT ME!" Zurg repeated.
The counterpart pressed on his centerpiece once arriving to the center then flew off into his evacuation shuttle and it flew off with a course plotted out for the hole.
"Why does the neutral party always have to always do the clean up?" Agent Z asked, exasperated, standing at the entrance way of the throne room
Agent Z shot out a hole from the side of the building with a good view of below then turned toward Zurg and Darkmatter saw him, too.
"Evil Emperor Zurg gives his regards." Agent Z said.
Darkmatter stared in the direction of Zurg.
"Okay." Darkmatter set his hands on his hips. "Can someone tell me what's going on and who was that?"
"That was Agent Buzz." Zurg said, causing the ex-Space Ranger to clench his hands, growing tense, defensive. "Your distant counterpart in the multiverse."
Warp aimed his plasma blaster at the evil emperor getting a very bad vibe off him. "Huh." he smirked in response.
"Something tells me that we've not been in this position."
"Turns out the Ranger Darkmatter that I had abducted and tortured was lying." Zurg then laughed, stretching his arms out, pleased then halted, his palms open, sporting a unique grin of his own as Warp grew tense, starting to sweat. "Looks like he is going to die." He had another laugh that sounded incredibly menacing and darker than it did normally. "Buzz Lightyear isn't dead after all." he stared in the silence then ended the silence with a far amused laugh. "Curse you, Warp Darkmatter."
He grasped the edge of his cape then flew off leaving Darkmatter behind.
"I missed the part where that is my problem." Darkmatter turned away then sighed. "But a evil emperor going somewhere with my counterpart somehow is." he rubbed his forehead, annoyed, lowering his head. "Craters."
Darkmatter lifted his arm up then watched his claws return. Surely, there was something that the evil emperor wanted him to that had to be associated to whatever were going on, however simplistic, dumb, stupid, or ridiculous it were, the evil emperor were going to pay well. He descended down his corridor, arriving to his small shuttle at the shuttle bay, then flew on for the warship that awaited his return in orbit. The small craft was in reality the top of the warship that joined with the other half of it with a click then the mercenary followed the crystallic fusion trail left behind by the craft as he smirked. In this world, the warship wasn't replaced, in this world, he never got to be bitter and hold a grudge against himself. In this world, he never had to bring himself into the depths of hell and not know that it had been his doing.
The prison complex that Warp was held at proved to be familiar, one of the ones that he and Buzz escorted the criminal after the trial to serve out their sentence, the one where dangerous criminals were kept. PC-7, the name brought back fond memories, the first time they brought their first criminal in after the trial, smug, basking in the glory of their shared accomplishment that took their combined effort and it had been fun. Warp couldn't see the criminals that had been housed in in there, given his secluded room, complete with toiletries, a bed, a television set, and a sink. It was smaller than the cell that he had been in for the length of a year, or more, time was out of his perspective.
He awoke one night during a night terror filled with panic, dread, and fear, waiting in the corner of the room for the hornets with his arms wrapped around his legs. He trembled like a leaf, waiting, simply waiting, for nights at a time for them to reappear at the doorway. Often, the sound of the synthesizer chirping awoke him from his trance bringing him into the present when the lights were brighter and the long wide hole simply a window, a glimpse into a what if, observing from time to time, Mira and Buzz escorting in a criminal, and it hurt his heart. It was worse than torture, genius, the likes of what the devil could make up. He had to get out of here, hearing Buzz's voice, hearing him walk on by his cell, it was ice pricks to the heart, his voice was different here, the face all the same, yet still being Buzz Lightyear.
The only way out was a very dangerous criminal making their escape.
Warp had been tortured by Zurg for months, he could wait in prison being tortured by the mere sight of the man who died.
It was a waiting game that Warp could participate in, willingly, while comparing and contrasting the versions of Team Lightyear passing by his cell.
Team Nova was doing just fine in his view. And he was so proud of them.
"How long has it been since Evil Emperor Zurg left planet Z?" Brainpod 18 asked.
"Two months." Brainpod 17 said.
"And since Ranger Darkmatter escaped?" Brainpod 18 asked.
"Three months." Brainpod 17 replied.
"And since Ranger Darkmatter went to prison?" Brainpod 18 asked.
"Two months and two weeks." Brainpod 17 replied then glared back at their companion. "Brainpod 18, you know this."
"And Evil Emperor Zurg hasn't exited the tunnel extraction chamber." Brainpod 18 said. "This should be a cause for alarm."
"He's being evil, he is fine." Brainpod 17's glare relaxed as they rolled their eyes then gestured toward the closed doorway. "If he were dead then someone would have come through and told us about it."
"What if someone else comes through that door we shouldn't have opened?" Brainpod 18 asked, worried.
"It'll be Zurg who enters that doorway." Brainpod 17 said.
The door to the chamber flung open with a enraged evil emperor.
"Where is Warp Darkmatter!" Zurg demanded.
"Personal time, sir." Brainpod 18 replied.
"The other one!" Zurg shouted.
"At prison." Brainpod 17 replied.
"I'm going to kill him!" Zurg announced, his hands flung into the air, the temperature changing around him to drastic heat.
The evil emperor marched on by the two brainpods.
