It Begins pt.2

"Space Ranger Warp Darkmatter sacrificed himself for the success of his mission, and the safety of his fellows. I…miss him very much." Jill just stood by and listened as her father gave the eulogy at her adopted uncle's memorial. She drifted away from the speech to memories of him. He had always been there to help raise her. He would babysit her when Buzz had to go to parent teacher conferences or what have you, he would tell her amazing stories of her father and him saving the world that Buzz never told because of the violence in it, and he didn't mind watching the animal universe channel with her. All these memories of him passed through her mind. But one seemed to stick out above the rest.

/~{+}~\

It was a warm and sunny day. She was in her impenetrable super fort recovering from the recent attack from the evil overlord. Or to put it simply, she was up in her tree fort sulking after getting spanked by her father.

"Ahoy up there!" She looked down at the voice below. His dark navy blue hair shone in the sun's rays as his robin egg blue skin gave off a healthy glow. He was sporting a playful smile as he looked at her and saluted. "Private Warp Darkmatter; requesting entry into the impenetrable super fort, Ma'am!" Smiling half heartedly, she nodded. Climbing up to the wooden platform, he sat down next to her. "So…wanna talk?" Swinging her legs off to the side, she didn't look up.

"Daddy spanked me." Warp frowned at this.

"Really? Well, I'm sure he had a good reason to." She donned a frown.

"No." She said blankly. "He didn't." He raised an eyebrow at her as he patted her on the head.

"Maybe you should start from the beginning." Huffing angrily, she crossed her arms. Warp couldn't help but smile at the sight of the seven year old pouting.

"Glorm Pixwalski took Dr. Hops-A-Long and buried him in the sandbox!" She stated as she held out her favorite toy, a ratty old stuff Jo-ad bunny, which was now filthy and gave off a cloud of dirt when moved.

"Really? That wasn't very nice of him." Jill held her toy close to her as she scowled. "Then what happened?"

"Then I un-dug Dr. Hops-A-Long and pushed Glorm into the dirt. Then I pushed his head in the dirt to show him what it was like. Then I said, 'how do you like it, Glorm?'" Warp had to refrain from laughing at the mental image of the little girl beating up some oversized boy. "Then Mrs. Lai-Tunn yanked me off him and yelled at me." Her angry frown turned into a sad one as she held her plush closer to her. "Then I got sent to the principal's office, then he yelled at me. Then Daddy came and apologized for everything. Then we got home and he sent me to my room. Then he spanked me." She held back tears as she hugged her toy tightly. "He didn't even listen to my side of the story." Warp watched her a bit, and then placed a hand on her shoulder. Looking up she was greeted by his kind gaze.

"It's been kinda rough on your old man lately. Work's got him stressed and a painful day is coming up." He used his thumb to gently brush her tears away. She tilted her head a bit when he was done.

"Painful day?" He nodded as he patted her back.

"It'll be your parents' wedding anniversary in a few days. It always brings back painful and bad memories for him." Cupping her chin, he gently lifted her head to look him in the eye. "You're all he has left of your mom. He's only hard on you because he wants you to grow up right. So cut him some slack when he messes up. He's doing the best he can all by himself. Alright?" Thinking it all over, she nodded.

"Okie dokie Uncle Warp. I will." She smiled as he ruffled her hair.

"Attagirl. Now how's bout we go and explain everything to your dad?" She grinned as he hopped down and held his arms out for her to jump into. Hopping down, she was placed on the ground next to Warp before she grabbed his hand and walked towards the house where her father was waiting.

/~{+}~\

The eulogy was over as she returned to the present. She withheld tears as her father walked up and hugged her close to him. She had to be strong; she had to live on for her adopted uncle who would want her to. Warp Darkmatter was like a second father to her, he was the one that got her to see that her father just wanted to keep her safe, he was the one who convinced her to join the Animal research and Wildlife preservation labs and he was the one who she looked up to the most. She buried her face into her father's shoulder as she sobbed her grief away.