Chapter 3: My Debt to Pay and The Vampire
It had been one week since I had arrived at Star Command and the news about me had quickly spread from Ranger to Ranger after being there for just two of those seven long days. I made friends with Buzz and the rest of his crew and even apologized to XR for teasing him about his terillium form and told him that I was only messing with him in hopes of just having some harmless fun. He soon forgave me after that and we ended up spending a lot of time together whenever he could spare it.
"Ya see that, Commander Nebula signed and initialed my work order. Commander Nebula authorized my construction and gave me the life I know have!"
I laughed at how proud he was of it all.
"Well, now I know why you call him dad a lot. And..at least..you can see him all the time."
He gave me a look of concern from the sound of sadness in my voice.
"What do ya mean?"
I looked at him and then out the window I had in my room.
"Well, the reason I say that is because unlike you, I can't always see my dad. I live in a foster home and he lives somewhere that's a bit far away from me. So I kind of only get to see him once in a while."
XR frowned and looked down at my bed sheets.
"Well, you may not be able to be with him, but at least you know he still loves ya enough to visit you sometimes. And I may just a robot, but if there's one thing I do know, it's that love never seems to true let you down even in the darkest of times."
I smiled at him and hugged him close to me.
"Thanks XR. And you're right, if he still comes and visits me then he does love me."
Just then we heard XR's com link speak to him.
"XR, do you read me?"
The voice that was on it belonged to Buzz.
"Loud and clear Buzz. So whats the problem?"
"It's Nos4A2 again."
Just then I saw XR jump back a bit in fright.
"Are...ya sure about that gulps) Buzz?"
"Affirmative. We've tracked his where abouts straight to TradeWorld, and I need you and the others to help stop him once again."
As I watched XR I noticed that he looked a bit sick despite being a robot and was made of trillium and not flesh.
"Um, alright then...I'll be at the ship in a few minutes. XR out."
He turned the com link off and fell back on my bed in an exhausted manner.
"Are you ok?" I asked out of concern for my friend.
"Oh ya Kate, I'm just real peachy." He said with fake sarcasm in his voice, along with an irritated look on his shiny features.
I crossed my arms and gave XR a stern mother-like look.
"Don't lie to me XR. I know something is making you stressed out, so why don't you just come clean already?"
His irritated attitude faded and was replaced with fear and sadness.
"It's the mission we have to go on. We're dealing with an energy vampire named Nos4A2. Apparently he escaped from PC-7, again as usual. And there's no doubt he'll be wanting to exact some revenge on me and my team."
My stern look slowly faded with each new piece of info XR gave out.
"So the thought of this Nos4A2 character hurting you and your team is what's got you all upset huh?"
He turned to look at me with a sad look in his eyes as my answer. I thought for a moment and came up with a crazy idea.
"Ya know what? I wanna help you catch Nos4A2!"
XR then looked at me as if I had sprouted 12 heads.
"WHAT?! ABSOLUTELY NOT! You have no idea what this energy sucker is capable of doing, and besides, it's against Star Command regulations to allow civilians on dangerous missions like this!"
My face screwed up in anger at how he was trying to belittle me.
"That may be true, but we don't have to let anyone else know about it. Plus I feel like that this would be a great way to repay you and the others back before I leave for helping me get better. Please XR? I promise not to get in your and be super careful."
He thought about my reason and promise for a moment before answering.
"So you really want to do this?" He asked with a questioning look.
"Yes, I really do."
He then heaved out a tired sigh of defeat. "
Alright Kate, you can come along as my partner I guess. But you have to promise to stay out of sight and not get me or yourself into any trouble. Understand?"
I then hugged and planted a kiss on his domed head.
"Thank you XR! You're the best! And yes, I promise to stay out of sight and stuff."
I then released him as he fell onto the bed with a surprised look still on his features. After he shook off the shocked feeling he then turned to the door and cleared his throat.
"Ok then, first things first. We need to get you a suit from the lab to wear. But how are we gonna do it without being caught?"
I rolled my eyes at how much thought he was putting into a simple job.
I laughed a bit after waiting for what felt like ages for him to come up with a plan.
"Well, if I was trying to get to a lab unseen, I use the only way to do so on here."
XR just gave me a confused look.
"And that way would be?" He asked.
I answered him by pointing upward toward the air vents.
"Oh, right." He said with an embarrassed tone in his voice.
Soon we were just above the lab that contained the space suit I needed. XR undrilled the screws in the vent, opened it up, and jumped out first to see if the coast was clear. As soon as he gave me the ok, I too jumped down to meet him.
"Alright XR, let's find us some spacegear." I said in a quiet voice.
Just as we were about to head to the suit locker, we heard the sound of someone clearing there throats
"Ahem!"
Me and XR turned in surprise to find LGDS with a stern look and their little arms crossed.
"Where do you think you're going Kate?" said one of them.
I then shifted my gaze away from them in shame before answering in a nervous "I Got Caught By The Law" voice.
"Well, ya see, I was just wanting to..."
I was cut off when they all pulled out a suit the was my size.
"Can't go out into space without this suit we made for you."
I stood there in shock as they held up the suit that they had worked on.
"You...made this...for me?"
They nodded as there answer. I felt tears of joy and gratefulness well up in my eyes as I smiled at them and took the suit into my own hands.
"I... I don't know what to say. Thank you LGDS."
I got on my knees and gave them a hug.
"You're welcome!" They all said to me.
"Now quickly, get into the suit. Buzz and the others are waiting for you."
They all started pushing me toward the changing room.
"Ok I'm going, no need for shoving ya know." I laughed as I walked to change.
After changing I came out to show XR and the LGDS.
"So, what do ya think?" XR just stared at me with a shocked "I Just Found The True Meaning Of Hot" look while the LGDS just said "Ooooooooo!" as their answer.
I laughed at each of them.
"I'll take that as I look good then. Now come on, we got a mission to take care of!"
I said as I grabbed XR's hand and ran out the door.
"Thank you LGDS!" I yelled as I ran out of there.
"Bye Kate!" They yelled back and waved.
Sneaking on to the ship wasn't an easy task for me and XR, but soon I was in the cargo hold of the ship with my bag and heading for TradeWorld to stop Nos4A2. Just before we were about to land, XR com linked me about the plan and told me to wait in the cargo until he arrived to get me. When he got to the cargo he opened it to reveal me sitting on a metal box of space food.
"Hey XR! What's shakin' bacon?" I said in a playful tone while sticking a leg out and throwing my hands in the air.
He just rolled his eyes at me before answering.
"Yeah yeah, You're a great comedian and whatnot. Now get out here so we can start tracking down Nos4A2!"
I frowned at his sour spirit but complied to his order despite how I wanted to push him. But just as I was to get out, he slammed the door back on me, sending me flying into some boxes.
"Ah!" "Ouf!"
I was about to yell at him when I heard Mira's voice on the other side.
"Hey XR! Booster and I were wondering if you'd like to come with us to track Nos4A2 down. Not that we think you can't handle him on your own and stuff, but it might make catching him much easier than if we split up."
I heard a pause before XR spoke up.
"So just you and Booster huh? Where did Buzz go?"
"He went off to scout some old buildings on the east side of TradeWorld by himself. So it's just the three of us for now."
"Not necessarily." I thought to myself.
I then heard XR laugh.
"Well if Buzz thinks he's capable of doing it on his own then so am I. You and Booster go do your own thing, I'm gonna go check out some of the alleys in the area, and maybe ask a few of my fellow bots if they've seen anything strange happen lately."
There was another pause before Mira spoke up.
"Well if you're sure about it then ok I guess. Just promise to call for backup if anything bad happens ok?"
"Of course I will. Now go on, Nos4A2 isn't gonna catch himself ya know."
"Ok XR, see ya."
Soon I heard silence and the sound of the cargo door opening up.
"Ok, the coast is clear."
After I had gotten out of the cargo hold, I looked around to find that we were in some sort of high teched city with flying cars plus aliens and robots of all kinds walking around. "Wow! This place is the coolest! I wish I came here sooner!"
XR pulled out a tracking device while I continued to look around.
"Just remember Kate, we're here on strict business, so no horsing around or it's back in the cargo hold."
XR started rolling to the nearest street while I followed right behind.
"I don't need to be reminded of that XR. I'm 21, not 7." I said with an irritated tone in my voice.
Soon we were walking down a sidewalk to the next alley after we had asked a few bots and aliens if they had seen anything. As we walked down the dark pathway I felt the hairs on my neck stand on end as a shiver ran down my spine. Despite the fact that the alley seemed completely empty apart from me and XR walking through, I just couldn't help but feel like we were being watched.
"Hm, I seem to be picking up on some strange readings in this area." XR said as he continued to roll and look at his tracker.
Just then I saw a dark form fly passed us that caused me to jump and gasp out from fright.
"GASP! What was that?!"
"Probably just a bird. Now let's hurry up and check the next alley."
I felt totally scared at that point and didn't want to keep going as I looked around frantically for what ever I just saw.
"XR, I think there's something hiding around here watching us. I can just feel it in my gut that something doesn't feel right here."
Just as I turned to look at XR who turned around to give me an irritated glare, my eyes grew to the size of dinner plates in fright and my heart felt like it just upped and stopped beating from the thing I saw floating right behind my friend's head with red glowing eyes and a sharp toothed grin on it's face.
"Look Kate, if you're just gonna be a problem instead of a helpful partner on this mission, then maybe you should just go back to the I really need to focus in order for us to have any chance of catching Nos4A2."
I tried to gather up some courage to properly get my vocal cords to work before answering him.
"W..Well, if you r..eally wanna find him, then I th..ink you just did."
He then looked at me with a stern yet slightly questioning look.
"Kate, what are you talking about? What do you mean that I already found him?"
I slowly raised my shaking hand and pointed at the thing behind him as my answer. XR soon all of a sudden realized that he was standing in a shadow that didn't belong to him which cause his face and body to shake and screw up in a frightened manner. He then slowly turned around to find himself face to face with none other than the energy vampire himself, Nos4A2. As soon as Nos saw XR's eyes he laughed in an evil and creepy way that sent chills down my spine and into the very pit of my heart and gut.
"Well Little One, it seems that we meet again as usual. Although this time you've up and decided to bring along a partner."
He flew right over XR and can very close to where I was standing. "And what a lovely looking partner she is. What a fare and sweet face she has. It's too bad she's a Ranger though. Cause I really despise having to destroy such a pretty face like hers."
He ran a cold claw up my neck to the tip of my chin so that I could properly look him in his glowing, demonic eyes.
"Not while I'm here ya won't!" said XR from behind the vampire.
Nos4A2 turned around to find XR had finally snapped out of his scared state and was now holding up a bunch of guns that were attached to him. Of course this didn't seem to phase the vampire, but it did make him laugh.
"Hahahahahaha! Oh please Little One, you and I both know that you're no match for me. And besides, what if you accidentally hurt your sweet little friend here."
Just then Nos4A2 grabbed me by the waist and lifted me up a bit into the air.
"Hey! Let go ya psycho! Hey hey hey, watch the hands there creep!"
As I continued to struggle and protest in his grasp, he suddenly bit into the shoulder of my suit. After he did he let go and dropped me back on ground.
"Aaaah! PLOMP! Ow!"
"Kate! Are you ok?" I heard XR yell out from behind me.
I soon began to get up off the ground.
"Uh, yeah I'm cool, he didn't get through my suit so there's no bleeding to worry abo...HEY!"
Just when I thought that it couldn't get any worse, my suit started to move around on it's own. I tried to stop it but the dumbass thing just seemed to have a mind of it's own.
"Hey! Stop! What are you doing?!"
Before I knew it the suit was making me fire lasers at my friend with Nos4A2 watching with a cruel smirk from above.
"Kate! It's Nos4A2! He can control whatever machine he bites! Our suits have and special electrical skeleton in them that allows him to take control of them with just one bite! Ya gotta get out of the suit! Press the Emergency Eject Button on the suit! It's your only chance!"
As soon as I heard him say those words that I started wrestling with the suit to gain some control until finally I found an emergency suit ejection button on it. When I finally got free of my possessed suit, I found that my suit was trying to hurt me since I was now unarmed and wearing nothing but space footy pajamas. I dodged every attack that the suit was throwing out at me while XR tried to shoot it down. Soon enough XR did manage to take the suit down, but just as we thought the fight was over, Nos4A2 come back out of the shadows and suddenly grabbed me again.
"Aaaah!"
"Kate!" I heard XR scream out as I was picked up.
Soon I was in his hold with his claws holding both my neck and waist, floating high in the air while looking down at my friend with fear and worry in my eyes.
"Let her go Nos! It's me you want! She has nothing to do with this!" I heard XR yell with blistering fiery.
"Oh you'd like that wouldn't you Little One. Unfortunately I think I'll pass on that demand, for I have seem to have grown quite attached to this sweet girl."
He tightened his hold on my neck causing me to gasp out for air.
"Look Nos, just let Kate go and you can have me instead! You can't eat her anyway, so what use is she to you?!"
The vampire then started to chuckle.
"Oh I think I know just what I could use her for. Now I do so happen to be a reasonable bot, so I'll make a deal with you Little One. Tell Star Command to drop all charges and to let me continue to devour other bots and tech freely, and I'll let this pretty little Ranger go unharmed. If you disagree with my demand, then the girl will be staying with me until you and the others come to your senses. And believe me when I say that the longer you make me wait, the more of a chance that your friend here might get hurt."
He tightened his hold on my neck even more so to prove his point.
"Never! I won't agree to those ridiculous terms!" XR screamed.
There was a small pause before Nos spoke up.
"Hmm, well then, I guess that means she's staying with me. Good luck finding us Little One. And don't worry too much, I promise not to kill her. So long as I get what I want in the end that is. Hahahahahaha! Farewell Little One! May you rust in Peace!"
He flew off with me into the sky while I started screaming and struggling in his grip.
"Noooo! XR! Heeeelp!"
"Kaaate!" I heard him scream as we flew out of site and into the city.
I struggled to get away from Nos as we flew passed buildings and traffic while stringing out a few curse words as well.
"Let me go you banged up bastard! I'm not going through with this bullshit! Let me go!"
He squeezed my shoulders and brought my face up to meet his angered one.
"You want me to let you go? Fine then!"
He then all of a sudden released his hold on my arms and had me fall fast toward the ground causing me to scream.
"Aaaaaaaaaaah!"
After falling for a few seconds I felt him swoop down and grab me up from under my back and legs and was now carrying me bridal style. He then looked straight into my frightened eyes.
"Do you still want me to let you go?!"
I shook my head fast as my only answer.
"Then I suggest that you keep that organic vocalizer of yours shut! Understand?!"
I just nodded my head at him, too scared to even speak anymore. As we continued to fly to wherever the vampire was taking me, I shed silent tears and prayed that God would give XR all the power and help he could get in order to find me and to keep himself safe. I also prayed that whatever Nos4A2 had in stored for me that God would give me the strength to endure it. But I also prayed that God would help open the vampire's robotic heart and help him see that there was something better for him in life than this never ending string of evil and crime. That no matter who or what he is, that God had a better plan than this for him. As he does for me as well.