A/N Zurg chases and breaks Warp out of prison, reprise.
Nebula set the paperwork aside, he had filled out enough. He got up from the desk then exited his office, the desk close behind him, walking fast as his legs could carry him. He came to the main bridge of Star Command where a group of Space Rangers stood looming beside a radio device in a large crowd. It wasn't a odd sight, not even when it came to the radio novels that were played and provided some distraction on lazy and very slow days. He recognized the voice of the announcer any day, a story teller, a individual who often appeared in areas that were naturally being plagued by disaster and narrated the Space Rangers exploits. This individual, Tayzun, had a number of recorded audio reports scaling back to some missions that Warp and Buzz had done who had done less appearances in it than 'Capital Planet's most dumbest criminals' together.
"-and today, I am here to see the effects of UPA!"
"Universal Personality Adapter."
"On a unruly, dangerous, and mean prisoner!"
"What's that thing?"
"This is the audio catcher 2000! It catches everything! Even a fart!"
"Excuse me, that was a yawn."
"What?"
"That sound your catcher got, it was a yawn,"
"Sorry, Warden, this catches sounds that we can't hear and amplifies it for the audience!"
"Craters."
Star Command was wheezing with laughter as the farting continued as did notable viewers across the universe.
"What about the sound you were talking about?"
The commander leaned against the nearest computer, his hand in fist, his face a heated red.
"It was nothing!" Yung insisted shaking his hands, sweating, nervously. "Nothing at all!"
"Who is the recipient with the upa?" Tayzun asked.
"A dangerous criminal." Yung replied.
Warp's cell door opened, drawing his attention, his alarm, and overall fear, tensing up, until seeing it were a guard bot, and then he grinned, seeing a opening, a chance, and hope to end the hell that he had been shocked into. He held up his hands, waving them, before the guard bots, then walked out as the machines had electric shock devices implanted in their arms aiming at him ready to be dispatched. After exiting, his arms were held behind his back after being forced by two guard bots waiting outside. His arms ached sharply, wincing, his sockets felt sensitive being held in this position like a thousand hot pine needles had been applied to that section.
"Is that Warp Darkmatter?" Tayzun asked, stunned, slightly scared, as Buzz stopped laughing at the mention of his ex-partner's name.
He was brought to the hub of the prison then raised his head up.
"Yes, it is!" Yung announced.
"Tayzun?" Warp announced, surprised, shocked, his head bobbing up. "Didn't you retire two years ago?"
"And he's a very good at gaslighting." Tayzun noted, amused.
"Or was that news that Evil Emperor Zurg spread himself?" Nebula rolled his eyes as did the rest of the Space Rangers.
"In fact, we've decided to transfer his criminal personality with the personality of a artist." Yung added.
"What kind of artist?" Tayzun asked.
"Not quite sure, singer possibly, poet, comic artist, we'll find out ourselves."
"The UPA?" Warp's features morphed into shock. "Wasn't that labeled strictly forbidden after that one incident where Hikari and Ovus lost a prisoner after being tricked? The whole place being overrun in criminals?"
Buzz frowned, Booster started to sweat, XR stared at the console with a gaping jaw, and Mira looked toward her mentor.
"Odd. . ." Buzz said.
"And you were nearly removed from this penal colony for allowing it!" Warp finished.
"No, no, no." Yung laughed as did Space Rangers at Star command. "This is strictly used for the rehabilitation of criminals."
"Rehabilitation?" Warp bobbed his head up in alarm. "This isn't rehabilitation," he lowered his head with a glare toward the warden. "rehabilitation means learning being to be a better you!" he clenched his fist. "The you that's inside all that mucky nasty and mean and evil thing in the heart, somewhere tucked underneath the underbelly of bad." Nebula nodded in agreement with his arms folded turning away in disappointment in the ex-Space Ranger as Team Lightyear listened while on patrol. "What you're doing is illegal!" his voice became higher pitched. "Inhumane!" he shook his head. "And this is INSANE."
"No, its's not!" Yung said.
"You're not rehabbing a person, you're just taking out the flesh and filing away the personality somewhere else!"
"To a far simpler place," Yung said as the guard bot put the device on Warp's head. "this is where criminals go when all their chances are wasted. Any last words?"
"Get this thing off my head!" Warp proceeded to struggle as Buzz turned off the radio.
"Why did you turn that off?" Mira asked.
"I don't want to hear it." Buzz said as Booster grimaced, struggling to keep the information back, puckering his lips.
"Stop struggling or the gaurd-bots will electrocute you!" Yung cried as Warp knocked aside a guard-bot with one leg and spun then delivered a kick to the other drone.
"Over my dead body!" Warp shot back, defiantly.
"It seems that the prisoner is causing a commotion." Tayzun noted.
Star Command and those listening heard the sounds of metal being damaged, grunting, yelping, and then it ended. Buzz turned on the radio.
"Ladies and gentlemen and entities say hello to Artist Darkmatter!" Tayzun announced.
Then there was silence, uncomfortable, long silence, nothingness, his voice was gone. The silence was concerning for the viewers listening in to the radio event, some attempted to determine if the radio wasn't working, some smacked their radio, as did Ty at his current assignment with a loud smack, King Nova purchased a new radio and set it in the observation room along with the other royal figures with him. Distantly, Evil Buzz Lightyear was doing evil things to his radio while stuck in a far off abandoned laboratory that he had rigged to become a unique dome that provided nutrition over the last few years with his every defeat by his counterpart then he smacked the top of the radio. Darkmatter was cruising through space enjoying a nice ride to himself with his radio on listening for the event relishing in the suffering that his counterpart was undertaking.
"Artist Darkmatter, what kind of songs do you have to share to the Galactic Alliance?" Tayzun asked as the long mic hovered above the changed man. "Artist Darkmatter?" Tayzun grew concerned with the blank look on the features of the former criminal. "Is there something the matter?" Yung's brows raised stepping forward then proceeded to start to raise his hand up, looking afraid, ready to cut the visit short. "Artist Darkmatter?"
"Would you like angst?" finally, words started to come from the changed man who bore a grin. "Like a tragedy? Anguish? Sorrow? Mourning? Grief? Doubt? I won't say I'm in love like with all of these things?"
"That's kind of a dark and evil nature to it." Tayzun noted, concerned, much to the oblivious Warden.
"It's, like, a song that this heart, could like, give." was the response from the recently changed individual. "And then there's a song about losing a loved one," the changed man stretched his arms out. "who like saved the singer, and the singer is like having doubts if they're a good person after all," he lifted his hands up and down emphasizing the story of the song. "like dubious who the subject was good," the changed man bore a big smirk, proudly, of the distinction. "could be like anyone, most of the song is focused about their heroic acts, standing in their shadow-"
"Here's a pen and paper to jot down it down." Yung handed the clipboard to the subject.
"Ow. ow. ow. ow."
"Did the original subject lose someone close to them?" Tayzun asked, curious.
"Ow. ow. ow. ow."
"No." Yung turned in the direction of Tayzun. "And the new personality is a copy of the original subject that volunteered."
"Ow. ow. ow. ow."
"What kind of songs did the original subject make, warden?" Tayzun asked.
"Ow. ow. ow. ow."
"Love songs, break up songs, pop songs, songs for movies sometimes, she is part of a band." Tayzun said as the sound of paper being jotted upon and paper being use roughly echoed on in the line. "And she uses the word a like a lot."
"Ow ow ow ow ow ow."
"That's more than one word, Warden Yung." Tayzun said with a snicker.
"ow. ow. ow."
Clatter, the clipboard fell.
"Artist Darkmatter, what is the matter?" Tayzun asked.
"My fingers." the artist fell down to his knees. "They. . ." he started to sob. "hurt."
"What in the name of the great phoenix happened to his body?" Yung announced, terrified, as the Space Rangers stared at the radio.
"Is this a side effect of UPA?" Tayzun asked.
"It can't be." Yung said. "It has gone through clinical trials, many, many, many trials."
Tayzun knelt down to the sobbing older man then withdrew his sleeve and loudly gasped covering her mouth.
"Looks like he's been tortured!" the sounds of his sleeves being peeled back was loud enough to be heard as he whimpered. "Horribly scarred!"
Nebula's jaw started to fall as the mood from Star Command shifted from horror to shock to alarm then there was a loud explosion that sent a high pitch noise carried through the air waves, the upa was knocked out of the hands of the warden crashing off somewhere else, the reformed man being lifted up toward the direction of the noise. The guard-bots were firing, rapidly, at the threat, the familiar shadow standing out against the gray smoke as a pitch black figure walking through with the sound of hornets as the background noise. The reformed man lifted up toward the new arrival who proceeded to fire at him knocking the reformed man against the wall.
"It feels good to have the chess board set differently." Zurg said with a laugh.
"Evil Emperor Zurg!" Yung took a large step back.
"The evil emperor!" The reformed man looked up then screamed at the sight of evil emperor Zurg.
"You're not him!" Zurg acknowledged with a glare. "Hhmmm, but destroying his body, oh," he tapped his claws together, giggling, pleased. "that will do!"
Then the evil emperor fired at the reformed man. The reformed man flung himself out of the way. The distinct sound of plasma blasts echoed in the chamber over the sound of footsteps, shout screaming, the voice catcher operator lifting the man up to his feet then running as the Forty-Two went into lightspeed. What the listeners could hear was the sound of laser fire that came from the hornets firing at the fleeing target, Tayzun's hand smacking the voice catcher 2000 by hand, smacking the ground, searching for the fallen helmet, "Where is the upa-there it is!" Tayzun put the helmet back on the Ipsedan.
Tayzun's voice catcher operator used a chair for a shield then was knocked back as Warp started to came back to then shook the device off. He got back up to his feet then took the fallen voice catcher with a glare turning it sideways then twirled it as he charged at the evil emperor from behind. The collision knocked the evil emperor to the ground then knelt down, performed a cartwheel, grabbing the voice catcher 2000, out of the grips of Warp into his very own.
"Zurg." It was off hearing the mercenary's voice in the tone that he would normally greet Buzz Lightyear during a conflict.
"Darkmatter." Zurg greeted in anger. "My second ranger to terrorize." he stepped forward then tapped on the long thin long device. "After this old thing?"
"Nobody needs to get hurt." Darkmatter heard his counterpart's reply, wearily. "Carefully." he emphasized the word. "Let. Go. Of. The. Mic. Boom."
"Not today!" Zurg said with a laugh that was deeply unsettling and scared all those who were listening. "Have you not learned anything being my nemesis?"
"Yeah, one thing that Buzz Lightyear doesn't know." Warp replied as he tugged the voice catcher 2000 back toward himself and the evil emperor tugged it back. "Being emotionally compromised ruins your villainy."
"Santa is going to give you coal this year!" Zurg taunted the Space Ranger
"WELL SANTA ISN'T REAL AND YOU KNOW THAT!" Warp yelled, a comment that enraged the evil emperor.
Zurg tossed aside the Ipsedan using the voice catcher 2000 then crushed the tip and knocked it aside.
"That's not our Warp Darkmatter in there!" Nebula's shout shook Star Command.
"Hornets, destroy Ranger Darkmatter!" Zurg pointed off toward Warp.
The evil emperor turned away as the hornets proceeded to fire. Warp looked from the evil emperor then toward the visitors, making a difficult choice, choosing to eliminate the hornets first before dealing with the evil emperor. Warp's arms ached at the thought of having to do straining gave a series of orders to Yung and Tayzun and the voice catcher operator that was a gray robot with a purple accent to defend themselves, insisting that he could see the strength inside of them to perform the feats, turning out successful. The problem was being surrounded by several destroyed hornets and a few guard-bots that survived. It became very ominous to Warp that the Galactic Alliance had just figured out that he weren't their Warp Darkmatter that was supposed to be convicted.
"Craters." Warp said.
Warp rubbed his forehead with a sigh. Buzz would have been pleased, either way, reassuring him that a problem had been solved, proud of his friend for bringing the good out of a few untrained non-rangers, and likely would be this Buzz Lightyear's reaction here much to his ex-partner's sulking. Warp's left shoulder felt unusually cold, strangely, off and on, like someone were patting on it.
"Evil Emperor Zurg is stealing the voice catcher 2000!" Tayzun cried out in desperation. "Gaurd-bots, prisoners, whoever, we need it!"
"Why is it important?" Yung asked, lifting a brow. "There's other lower costs versions out there to fetch in the sea."
"We paid top dollar on it!" Tayzun replied. "It can be fixed."
"Consider it Space Ranger business." Warp said with a grin toward the duo.
"You're not a Space Ranger!" Yung called back.
War shifted toward them with a pause.
"Once a Space Ranger, always a Space Ranger." Warp said then ran after him.
Once certain that the area was clear, Warp recklessly chased after the evil emperor who still carried the voice catcher 2000 in one hand stealing it from the production company that was currently using it.
"Hey, Zurg!"
Zurg turned in the general direction of the Space Ranger then proceeded to fire retreating from the exit of the station. Warp lured the evil emperor down the floors as he dodged the blasts striking equipment behind him with a laugh. It was entertaining going down to the work shop then sliding after table after table, spinning, avoiding being hit, then grabbing hold on to a laser blaster and aimed it back at the evil emperor. Warp landed on his back with a thud then flipped on to his knees, one hand on the floor, then lifted himself up to his feet looking aside seeing a large strip of text reading 'evacuation shuttle' then jumped aside missing the shot from the evil emperor.
Zurg's fury was understated as he chased the Space Ranger through the area, Warp hid behind a piece and traded in the blaster for a different kind of weapon that resembled a fork without a center piece, hit a button. The click summoned a electrical field between the two bars then swung his weapon forward electrocuting the evil emperor who shrieked. Zurg caught a hold of that hen was promptly electrocuted and shrieked, his entire exoskeleton visible for the Space Ranger to see, earning Warp's smirk. Zurg unexpectedly traded the object in for the voice catcher for the electrocute prone device as the Space Ranger made a run for it as the device was torn to shreds. Zurg fired at the Space Ranger's feet knocking him down with a loud blast who then turned around at the approaching evil emperor.
"I seem to recall I stole it!" Zurg announced. "Give it back, it's mine!"
"Then take it!" Warp shot back.
Warp tackled the evil emperor down then proceeded to swing the voice catcher 2000 into the evil emperor's torso. Zurg broke the device in half, then delivered a sharp punch to Warp's eye knocking him back, slouching, crashing against a set of computer then slid down as electricity brewed out of the machines. It was slow, it was painful, and it tore up the Space Ranger's orange prison uniform. Warp fell down to his side with a silent thud then lifted himself up and fell back down to the ground. The evil emperor loomed over the Space Ranger ready to perform the finishing blow. Warp looked up toward the evil emperor.
"I met Agent Z." Zurg said.
"Did not." Warp argued.
"Did too." Zurg said.
"Did not!" Warp shot back, upset.
"Alive and well, just as skilled as Buzz Lightyear, different voice and all, like that voice that he appeared with last year."
"That's impossible unless . . ." Warp let it hang there as he processed it. "You rebuilt it."
"Proof enough that he exists!" Zurg replied.
"My Agent Z died cushioning my fall from your tower!" Warp insisted.
"It could have been fun chasing you through the quadrants, torturing you for the access codes, instead of this absurd lie, a very stupid mistake."
"Mistakes helped me become the Space Ranger that's been foiling your plot for nearly thirty years."
Warp looked over spotting the other end of the voice catcher 2000 across from him and turned his attention upon the evil emperor standing over the smirking Space Ranger.
"Why are you smirking, Darkmatter?" Zurg asked, condescendingly.
"Because Buzz Lightyear isn't dead here." Warp replied as the evil emperor's optics brightly lit red then held up his three fingers with a smirk then proceeded to lower them one at a time. "In three. . two. . ."
Zurg fired at the Space Ranger then turned away anticipating the Space Rangers as Warp ran behind him to the evacuation shuttle fleeing as the evil emperor turned back toward him.
"How are you running after a blast to the head, Darkmatter?" Zurg chased after the fleeing Space Ranger with his plasma blaster ready to be used. "Curse you, Warp Darkmatter!"
Zurg ran past Warp, who was wheezing, standing beside the doorway to a evacuation shuttle, a fist rolled up against his lips, the laughter making his chest ache even more than his visibly wounded head.
"Zurg!" Buzz called, drawing the evil emperor's attention in the nick of time away from Warp.
"Lightyear." Zurg said as Warp leaped into the evacuation shuttle. "Serious voice, once again, this is getting out of hand." he held his claw out. "Stop this ham and face me like a man!"
"Don't mind if I do, turn around, hands up, in the air!" Zurg stared at where Buzz Lightyear had once stood.
Zurg was furious then twirled toward the Space Ranger and proceeded to fire. He fired after the space ranger who missed being hit by every single one, turning his wings on, then flying back at the evil emperor. The evil emperor turned on his rocket boots then flew away with resumed heavy fire in return to the space ranger who was proving to be more annoying than anything else aboard this station, he was dumb, he was a brute, and he was in general, a person who performed good when defeating Zurg was in his grasp. The evil emperor inwardly grinned then halted in his tracks then moved aside with his arm held out and as anticipated, the Space Ranger smacked against his arm with the chassis taking the brunt of the damage and had the wind knocked out of his very being. Zurg aimed at the oncoming android then blew him up with a single blast.
Zurg hid in the center of a evacuation pod watching as the giant flew on in then joined the knocked out Space Ranger's side. Zurg changed his blaster's setting to stun and from plasma to laser. He aimed and fired at the giant knocking him out cold. He crept out of the evacuation shuttle then approached the fallen group of the Space Rangers. Warp was gone and he was left with the nearly defeated team of Team Lightyear. He changed his blaster's mode from stun to plasma mode aiming at the group as he sensed the presence of the newly arrived fourth member of the crew, his hands rolled up into fists, stiff. Mira had her hand set on her wrist laser ready to fire as she appeared in the direction that he were staring instead of being behind him. Lightyear had mentored her well. Fight fair. Live like a good person. Follow the rules of combat.
"It's Warp Darkmatter or Buzz Lightyear." Zurg bluffed aiming his plasma blaster at Buzz's head. "Decide."
Mira was tense as she looked aside toward her mentor, her unconscious friends, then toward the evil emperor.
"I choose Buzz Lightyear." Mira said.
"Excellent, excellent, Ranger." Zurg's laughter was sinister as he approached the Space Ranger. "All you need to do is put this rock-" he slid a green rock out of his dress and held it up. "-into his chest and let him die slowly."
Mira closed her hand withdrawing it, reluctantly, lowering her head.
"Fine." Mira said, sorrowfully, lifting her head up.
"Evil and good wins, our temporary visitor gone, and everything being the way it should." Zurg was giddy at the thought of a existence where his anger had been dealt and back to his familiar and more welcoming routine of plotting evil schemes without sacrificing a portion of his time upon the stubborn Ranger Darkmatter. Zurg had enough of him and squarely believed his counterpart was too chicken to do it in his world. "If you don't fulfill your end of the bargain. . ." Mira became alarmed as his tone grew sincerely evil. "I can always destroy him off the battlefield."
"It'll happen!" Mira promised, somberly, yet angry.
"And you won't forgive yourself." Zurg reminded her as he flicked a non-existent tear off his optic. "Ever."
"In exchange that it's never mentioned." Mira said.
"Deal." Zurg held his free servo out. "If it's never spoke on your end, either."
"A deal." she took his servo then shook on the deal.
"The price of friendship, alas." he tucked his hands behind his back as he spoke in a mocking tone that turned quite bemused, a arm held above his optics, tilting sideways for exaggeration. "Doing hard things for others."
Zurg laughed then walked away while Mira sulked rubbing her shoulder as she slipped the rock into a small box and tucked it away into her chassis.
"Oh! How could I?" Zurg paused in his tracks, then shifted back toward her, glaring back at her. "One. more. thing."
Mira turned in his direction then she was stunned and fell in the heap as the evil emperor walked on leaving her behind as he laughed.
