What If...Ty Parsec Never Called for Backup?
Though it was known by limited Galactic Alliance members to be one of the most important bases to protect, it sure didn't feel like it. Actually that was probably the point. Nebula had probably taken one look at Ty's "rescued-from-Buzz" count and sent him off to whatever wouldn't need the true values of a Space Ranger, but looked interesting enough so he wouldn't fight it. Perfect. 20 years of training, discipline, and enforcing the mindset that the universe truly needed his protection, and he was out running circles around an energy base that couldn't be more secure with a sentry robot that was waaaay too happy about there being no danger. He sighed, turning a corner of the base once more. At least someone was happy with their purpose.
"Er, Ranger Parsec?" Ty turned towards his companion, already annoyed with the update he was already well aware of, "All looks clear in sector four." An eye roll and another sigh was enough to keep his temper at bay.
"Is that so? Because I could've sworn I just saw an army of hornets and Zurg himself just around the next corner," Sentry 1 nearly went offline from that sarcasm-drenched statement.
"W-What?! Where?!" The robot locked himself to the walls of the base and trembled while the sensors flurried around in the air with fear knocking into each other and somehow showing more emotion than the only being with a face around. Sentry 1 covered his head and braced for whatever was about to shut him down. His partner, however, just turned and gave him an "are-you-serious" look. It took a good few seconds for him to realize that there wasn't a threat and awkwardly stood back up.
"You really think anything interesting could happen? We might as well just go inside and stay there until my shift's over," Ty said dryly, turning back and heading to the front of the base. It was already almost morning, and for the last few weeks he'd picked up a case of Deja vu he could do without.
"B-But…" Sentry 1 hurried back over to Ty and walked slightly behind, "You've got two more days here! What if something happens right before you go and we're not prepared?" Ty only responded with a scoff, silencing them both for a quiet moment other than the footsteps of Parsec and the mechanical whirring of Sentry 1's hydraulics. The ranger knew he wasn't just going to abandon this mission. He had promised himself this was it, the one where he'd finally catch Nebula's eye, the one where he'd finally end his days of useless missions and start actually protecting people. Canis Lunis was presented as the perfect shift to take. A whole Capital Planet month guarding one of the most powerful sources of energy from unimaginable evil forces? It would have been foolish to pass up an opportunity like that. But instead it was a planned routine of just walking around the various sectors with a couple of scaredy-cat robots and checking up on the facility workers who were also a bit off with how jumpy they were. As soon as he got back to Star Command, he'd have to hold back from lashing out at his commander for the false advertising.
For the third time, Ty tried to distract his boredom by counting the stars. There were so many in this quadrant, and he was at least glad he wasn't walking around in total darkness on a giant rock. His favorite path on the planet was the forest trail adjacent to him now which he occasionally glanced over at, since not only was there the most life, but it contained the most mystery. No species he had heard about could ever withstand the toxic atmosphere this planet provided, yet lush trees loomed in twisted paths waiting for someone to uncover their various secrets. Ty was the only one brave enough to explore it out of sheer apathy, but his discoveries always tended to be one of two things: more trees or food for his eagerness to leave.
The silence broke. But not by a nervous remark by Sentry 1 or the humming of the flying sensors, it rather sounded like...a clash of metal coming from directly behind the group. Ty quickly turned back around, wrist laser pointed straight out and eyes trying to lock onto whatever threat that was (hopefully) present. But he saw nothing, just the dark and rocky terrain of the night scenery with the lush forest in the background and Sentry 1's shaking and crumpled state with hands locked onto his rounded head. After a moment of surveying the area, Ty finally caught a glimpse of something. Next to his foot, he found the lifeless, smoking husk of one of the sensors. The other was nowhere to be found. Slowly, he crouched as Sentry 1 also began to unfold and stood straight up and took note of what Ty was doing. He had picked up and examined the eyeball-structured droid, carefully checking the damage. It was when he rolled it over to its backside that Sentry 1 let out a panicked shriek and backed away in disgust. There, exposing the battery pack, were two small bite marks still fizzing out electricity.
"H-He...He's...h-here…" whimpered Sentry 1 softly. Ty raised a brow in confusion, but seemed oddly more cheerful at the sight of the robot corpse.
"What? Who's here?" asked Ty. Sentry 1 only recoiled further and shuffled back. Ty stood completely up and held out the sensor to the robot.
"What did this?" Ty didn't really have any special relationship with androids but he knew that if something were able to shut a high quality sensor down that fast, it was a cause for concern, and excitement in his case. Sentry 1 nearly fell over from how much he was shaking, but then he went rigid. The red eye on his frontal pixels shifted from the view of Ty's hand to what was looming above him. Another red light flashed and nearly blinded the robot, but not in the way that an ordinary light did. It was calming...it was...was…
"Sen...1…?" called a muffled voice from seemingly far away, drifting further by the second. The sentry bot stayed completely still, letting the red light covering him grow closer and closer. It was only when he was almost completely engulfed in his trance that a deafening scream shook him back to reality. Ty, finally realizing the sight above him, shot a single lazer straight through the flying creature. He nearly stumbled off balance in disbelief. There, attempting to ensnare Sentry 1 with his hypnotic monocle, was NOS-4-A2.
The energy vampire screamed upon the impact of the lazer, immediately recoiling and drifting to the side, clutching the area on his chest where he had been shot. Red glowing wings shot out from the velvet cape and with one fierce swoop, they flung NOS-4-A2 higher into the air where he quickly concealed himself behind a satellite atop the base fixated at the moon. He made sure to avoid the neon green energy being sucked in when he tucked his wings in and disappeared from Ty and Sentry 1's sight. The latter groaned tiredly and still needed to reboot some of his systems silently. Ty however, was breathing rapidly, trying to wrap his head around the shock. He had only heard the horrors of energy vampires, well, the one in particular he just witnessed almost kill his partner. NOS-4-A2, the name he learned from Buzz's bragging sessions, was among the most powerful and dangerous villains, feeding off of any power source he could get his claws on, as well as being able to control any machine with his electric bite. He was a foe not to be reckoned with…
...so why did Ty feel the happiest he'd felt in years?
He instinctively began to reach for his communicator to call for backup just in case, but he hesitated. Did he really need anyone else around? The best case scenario would be him and whoever came to share the credit, something he desperately needed. He slowly lowered his hand. This was his mission, not anyone else's.
Would his craving for action finally be satisfied? Would he finally be respected by his title and shed his rescue-filled history? Yes. He WOULD. He began to take off towards the other side of the base when the fizzing of electricity caught his eye. Ty turned to face Sentry 1, still a bit weakened and stunned from the hypnotic attempt, rocking back and forth in a daze. He gave the robot a sad glance, knowing that if he were left outside for too long the vampire could snatch him up before he knew it, but if he helped him he could lose his one chance to finally prove himself as a ranger. He would have to make a choice. And he did. Sentry 1 continued attempting to reboot at a very slow pace as the image of his ranger partner faded away around the corner.
Ty ran. Faster than he had ever before. He stayed along the edge of the base, only a foot away from the wall so as to not be seen if the energy vampire were to appear above him. His guilt about leaving Sentry 1 behind lingered close behind, but then again, if he were to take down NOS-4-A2, Sentry 1 wouldn't be in any danger and they could both go back safely. That wasn't enough to stop the guilt, but it was enough motivation for his decision. He looked out to the forest when he caught a glimpse of something. A spark of electricity shone through the trees. He found him. Ty grinned as he took off down the rocky trail that eventually sprung with twisted trees and still bushes. He kept his lazer aimed outwards but covered the light so as to not give himself away. Carefully he input the control that set it from stun to kill, although he knew a creation as powerful as NOS-4-A2 probably could withstand it. Apart from his soft footsteps, it was silent. He knew he was in the general location of the spark of electricity he saw, but there was no sign of a struggle, or the energy vampire. The moon casted long and rather unsettling shadows on the rocky terrain, some of which Ty nearly lept at for their resemblance of the energy vampire. His heart continued to beat fast and strong, some from the adrenaline of running and some from the suspense.
A red light collided with the green glow surrounding his shadow. Silently, Ty gasped. He knew what was behind him. After a microsecond of gathering a plan and reaching for his wrist lazer, he jumped and spun, time slowing down as he aimed his lazer at the sweet spot on his chest: his randometer. But just as he fired, the energy vampire swooped up and out of the way, the lazer blasting into the dirt. He wasn't quick enough to brace for the impact that was NOS-4-A2's claws that dug into his suit and threw him to the ground. His head throbbed from hitting the back of his helmet, making his vision a bit blurry from the impact. But that wasn't what he was concerned about. It was the sound of the drill-like fangs emitting from above him as well as the claws digging themselves deeper into the chest region of his suit that made his heart leap.
His face was covered in the light from the glowing monocle and the gigantic wings looming over the two. Ty couldn't move his arms though he tried. NOS-4-A2 was going to drain the power from the suit. The suit would stop providing oxygen. He would die. Was this it? He struggled under the claws' grip and slid against the dirt. Was this the end? He gritted his teeth. No. Not like this.
With one mighty kick, he pushed the energy vampire back a few feet who in return let out a small shriek. Ty quickly checked for any holes in his suit before he sprang up and lunged at the energy vampire floating in the green moonlight, his wings now tucked back in upon Ty's attack. The two tumbled a bit, Ty attempting to get in a position where he could reach his lazer, but NOS-4-A2 continued to fight and eventually got the upper hand, snapping Ty's arms to his side and not hesitating to bite directly into his shoulder's suit area, careful to not pierce the actual skin from the fear of having to taste an organic being. The ranger went into shock. He had already let his paranoia of suffocating from the vampire take over and gasped with terror and disbelief. Electricity began to snake out of the suit and into the fangs locked into his neck, sparks flying and snapping out everywhere. Another red light flashed on Ty's communicator, which to his dismay was the sound of the suit alerting him that his oxygen levels were dropping.
No. No. No.
He reached weakly to grab NOS-4-A2's arms and hopefully push him away once more, but he was quickly swatted away and pushed farther into the ground. NOS-4-A2 sank his fangs deeper to the point where he was now grazing Ty's skin. His breathing grew short and quick, desperate to find oxygen that was no longer present. His eyes fluttered and began to shut though he fought the feeling of fainting with all of his strength. He looked up past the monster killing him, up to the giant trees under a star-filled sky. With one final use of his strength, he attempted to push himself forward, eventually leading his arm to burrow deep enough into the ground that it could slide out and grip the glowing randometer in front of him. The energy vampire hissed with pain and dug his claws into Ty's arm who cried out in a feeble tone. Blood dripped down his now exposed arm that was shoved aside as NOS-4-A2 sneered at the space ranger.
"Puny human."
And with that, the energy vampire sliced his claw into the glass helmet protecting Ty from the poisonous atmosphere, immediately shattering and cleansed of oxygen. Ty coughed and looked upon the scene horrified. He was doomed. But just as he was about to pass out, most likely forever, he felt the sharp pain of fangs dig deep into his neck, the electricity building up around him, and the glows of the radioactive moon directly hitting his skin. Everything went black.
Ty shot out of bed. All was quiet other than his terrified hyperventilation and the shaking of his nerves. After a full minute of taking in everything, he groaned and threw himself back onto his mattress and covered himself with the sheets. He was exhausted and tried to wrap his head around the recent memories he suspected were real. But obviously, he could have never survived such an attack from a fiend like that and survive that much exposure to the toxic planet and the radiation that came with it. It was just a nightmare, its horrifying scenarios probably Ty's brain mocking him of his boredom. He finally decided to get up and get ready for the day. But when he took off the covers, he was met with a strange discovery. The entirety of his top uniform had been torn to shreds, while the pants had a few tears and pieces missing.
"Wha…?"
He couldn't be dreaming this. There was NO way he had actually just been in a fight with NOS-4-A2 and survived not only the attacks but the lack of oxygen. But wait...NOS-4-A2 didn't destroy the suit, just the helmet and a bit of the ranger armor plating that was nowhere to be found. He sighed. He had probably ripped up the suit himself in his sleep. He had always been a rough sleeper, he assured himself. That's what it was. And that's what he continued thinking the entire morning as he grabbed a new suit and headed out of his room.
Ty was running his daily routine on autopilot so he could keep his various questions fuming in his head calm, and to try to ease his headache. His mind was just functional enough to barely dodge the redheaded woman frantically running towards him.
"Ranger Parsec! Oh Venus, what happened?!" She was out of breath and looked worried out of her mind. That radiation-researcher never did shy away from exciting events, but she was never this jumpy.
"What? What are you talking about?"
"T-The Sentry droid!" Ty only responded with a very confused look before his heart leaped. Did he leave Sentry 1 outside of the base? No. That was in the dream. Was it? It was. Right?
"I found it at 0600 just outside the facility's walls- I uh… when I was looking outside from the tower of course. Not outside of course," Ty narrowed his eyes. She never was good at lying, especially when it came to confessing about leaving the base's interior when she was well aware of the "dangers." Plus, she was dressed in a uniform that he was aware of its ability to attach to a space ranger suit and was one she wasn't authorized to wear. She always loved stealing his backup one.
"Lana, under different circumstances I'd tell you for the hundredth time not to go outside the base, but I really need to know what's going on. Where is Sentry 1?" She cringed a bit, then pointed to the science bay behind her.
"In there, but I don't know if you're gonna like what you find." He gave her a puzzled look to hide his fear. Literally nothing was making sense today, and his hunger for action had been replaced with a hunger for answers. Ty gave Lana a nod before walking past her and into the room she had pointed to.
Giant energy-storing lightbulbs lit up the room, as did the several large monitors lining the walls. He could hear the faint humming of the satellites nested on the roof above him, their green energy beams being sucked in and transferred to the lightbulbs. Ty finally caught sight of something he needed to look twice at, the lifeless husk of Sentry 1 laying limp on one of the medical facility's examination tables. He ran over to get a better look, but quickly regretted it.
Oil dripped from what he found to be a detached arm laying a few inches apart from the rest of the robot, the bluish black liquid leaking all over the table. The red light that once somehow showed a timid personality had been permanently shut off. Ty gazed upon his fallen robot with anger both towards that energy vampire and himself. It was his fault that Sentry 1 was dead. He searched for the fang marks of NOS-4-A2 all over the visible areas, but he found nothing. However, he found deep gashes across the legs and chest area, to his confusion a bit larger than the claws and fangs of NOS-4-A2. He felt a bit uneasy at the idea that something else was at play here, but he refused to jump to any conclusions. That robot was a savage killer anyway.
"Quite some damage, huh Parsec?" Ty stiffened. Across the room behind him, he heard the voice of someone he really didn't want to. Mars. But he didn't really think of him as just another grumpy facility worker, he saw him as the future reason he'd get kicked out of Star Command if the stories he threatened to use were bought by Nebula. He couldn't think of a single day in which he didn't try to get Ty banned from his mission here on Canis Lunis, and Ty was secretly keeping track of how many days he had left to suffer the fear and torture brought upon by the man.
"I believe there's a section in the manual that states the importance of maintaining good conditions with the authorized droids and the safety of those a ranger is assigned to work with," he walked a little closer to Ty, running a hand through his short brown hair, "too bad you get caught with something this bad on your last day here. Lana and the others might be in danger from you drawing too much attention to us. If I were you, I'd just go ahead and pack up now while I go contact Star Command." Ty quickly began to internally panic.
"Mars, w-wait. You really don't want to do that-"
"OH yes I do. You have done nothing but lounge about and waste everyone's time while we're supposed to somehow be thanking you for protecting the whole blasted galaxy! This is just the first step to making sure Star Command stays out of my way for good." Ty couldn't help but get the feeling that Mars was destined to be the next Torque Armada or Rentwhistle Swack of the universe. He probably wouldn't be alive without the sacrifices the space rangers had made for him, and yet here he was threatening to kick him out just because he hadn't seen an intergalactic battle or something. His lack of respect sickened him.
"But if you kick me out, they'll just send in someone else. Maybe someone you hate even more," he gave a small sly smile, "maybe someone to steal Lana from you." Mars gasped and gritted his teeth, turning away. Ty smirked. He didn't enjoy calling out the obvious nor did he like resorting to threats himself, but his job was possibly at stake. He was going to do whatever it took.
"You stay out of that. And…" he clenched his fist, "you get until the end of the day to figure out what's killing off our sentries before I call your commander. No negotiations after sunset and that's my final word." Ty shrugged, relieved on the inside. He wasn't totally convinced that one guy from a secret facility would be the thing to finish off his career, but he wasn't going to take any chances. Mars quietly left the room without another word, leaving Ty to look back at his fallen companion. He would avenge him. He would prove his worth of a space ranger, and maybe even knock some sense into Mars.
For hours, Ty investigated the entirety of the base. His simple quest soon became an obsession, leaving him to barely even take a break though his body begged him to. His joints seemed stiff and he couldn't shake the minor headache off, but he didn't stop for any excuses as he continued to retrace his steps around the base with no luck finding any evidence of, well, anything. As he finally reached the front entrance once more, it finally hit him. He felt rather stupid for not thinking of it before. The security tapes! They would have caught anything in the area Sentry 1 was in! He smiled at the rather peaceful sunset on the horizon before taking off inside.
The communications center just so happened to be near the exit, with a large window showing the mysterious landscape of Canis Lunis off to the space ranger. He was quickly losing daylight from Capital Planet's sun, but he was sure Mars wasn't actually timing him. Actually that sounds exactly like something he'd do. Either way, Ty worked quickly to boot up the cameras and scroll through each and every camera inside and out of the base. For a few minutes, he saw nothing. Just the boring view of whatever angle the camera was locked on, until two figures finally passed his view. Himself and Sentry 1! He made sure not to lose them as he flipped through the cameras. Something finally made his heart leap. NOS-4-A2 began to hypnotize Sentry 1, and a few moments later was chased off the camera's view into the forest. Ty began to rapidly breathe. Was that not part of his dream? He came inside...no. Did he? Sentry 1 was still outside apparently...so does that mean he was too? He cursed himself for not putting up security in the forest although he knew that was a ridiculous thing to do. Wait. What was…?
A new figure bounded onto the camera's view then pounced onto Sentry 1, completely unable to react from the reboots he was doing thanks to NOS-4-A2. Ty could only watch in horror as Sentry 1 finally came back online only to be met face to face with some sort of giant animalistic android growling at him, finally coming down on him with large vicious swipes of its white metallic claws. After the screams of the helpless robot finally died down, the larger robot stood back on its hind legs, flexing its tail and stretching out its paws. Oil dripped down from its dog-like muzzle as it let out a bone chilling howl, one nearly identical to a wolf, before leaping out of the way of the camera and sprinting on all fours. Ty frantically switched cameras, barely able to keep up with the admirable speeds this new robot was achieving. Finally, it clawed its way past the airlocks and forced its way inside.
It began to slowly lose its speed once inside and Ty could hear it… whimper? It jumped back onto its hind legs and slowly began to walk upright, occasionally leaning on the wall for support. It appeared weakened by something. From the camera's location, Ty knew that the robot was just outside his room. His heart began to pound as the door was activated by the robot who took note of the newly accessible room. It peered inside and from what Ty could tell, there was no one inside. He rubbed his neck almost in disbelief when he finally felt something he hadn't noticed before. He ran over the skin's surface a few times. Were those…?
Bite marks. Two circular bite marks. Unmistakable. He had been bitten by NOS-4-A2. It wasn't a dream. He nearly lost his balance from the shock but continued to watch the robot's every move as it loomed in the green moonlight that was beginning to fade away over the horizon outside. Suddenly, it stopped moving, like it had lost power on the spot. Then something horrifying happened. It let out an agonizing howl once more in the doorway of Ty's room, electricity building up all around it and making it completely invisible to the camera as it too was covered in the light. The light finally cleared, and Ty cried out in response to what had taken the robot's place. Himself.
His body was limp on the ground, and the robot had vanished. After a quiet moment, he slowly leveraged himself up and Ty watched himself walk into his room like nothing had happened and shut the door to his room. He shook his head.
"No… nonono…"
In the large window adjacent to him, the sunset finally disappeared. It was slowly being replaced with a new source of light, a green glow sending its raws into the room Ty was watching the impossible tapes in. He didn't even notice the light until it finally hit him. His headache sprung its pain throughout him like a virus, shutting down every instinct he had to fight it. He had just enough strength to lean on the emergency distress signal, which he hoped would at least help those who were still in the facility with him get into lockdown. All he was able to do after that was watch his arm in horror as his hands twitched and broke, shattering and reforming into the claws the robot he had just seen rip apart Sentry 1.
6 hours and 22 minutes. The longest Ranger Parsec had ever taken to report back. Whether it was another traffic duty alert or another request to be assigned to a more… important job, he had never been this delayed with returning. Nebula rubbed his chin. It wasn't like he had been keeping track of how long Ty had been gone, nor did he really bother with any of this attendance stuff unless it was a real issue, but he had a feeling in his gut that something was up. It felt like something in his schedule was missing without the ranger's presence. Just as he had finished that thought, the transmitter on his desk began to beep. A distress signal, as he discovered, from Canis Lunis.
No message was left, nor did he find any sign of reply after a few attempts, and he began to worry a bit. He was quick to call in Team Lightyear who hadn't been assigned anything new yet and they hurried to his office upon the request.
"Alright fellas, now I don't mean to scare anyone, but we've lost all contact with Canis Lunis and the people on it," Nebula turned to face Buzz who had made himself comfortable in the chair directly in front of his commander's desk, "That includes Ranger Parsec." Buzz tilted his head, a bit in shock and a bit in confusion. He reached for his communicator when Nebula held up a hand.
"Don't bother, I've tried a dozen times." Buzz lowered his hand.
"When was he supposed to report back?"
"Today. It's only been a few hours, but the fact is it isn't just him that we can't reach. Whatever's causing the breakup is disrupting the signal from the base itself, not just Ty. If it were a problem with his communicator, the facility workers would still be able to contact Star Command," he glared at the transmitter on his desk, "but they have yet to respond to this blasted machine."
"Well then we should go check it out. There could be people in danger, and Ty" said Buzz, careful that he came across as heroic rather than worried.
"Ooooo, d-does that mean…" Booster chuckled like the Buzz-fanboy he was, "I get to finally witness a Lightyear-Parsec rescue?!" He squealed with delight. Buzz went stiff at the name of that.
"A...what?" Booster blinked a few times, surprised the Pride of Star Command didn't recognize what he was talking about.
"The missions where you save Ty and I get to hear about it from Booster for weeks," XR explained, rolling his eyes, "He's been waiting for the 50th one for a month. Ugh, I'm gonna miss this break." Nebula left a small pause of confusion before changing the subject.
"Wouldn't be surprised if it was just a malfunction, but I can't risk something like this being ignored and someone suffering from it. Lightyear, you and your team go check it out, and be sure to keep givin' me updates in case ya go offline at some point," he leaned back a bit before standing up, "I'm counting on you guys."
The entire trip was spent with the rookies talking as if everything was in order, but silence for Buzz. He knew Ty had a tendency of getting into scenarios with possibly disastrous outcomes, but he had always managed to be okay in the end, with or without Buzz's help. But something in his gut told him otherwise, that perhaps this was a bit more serious than what Ty had dealt with before. He brushed away the worst case scenarios and landed his ship with a more optimistic mindset booted up.
To their surprise, the landing field was empty other than 42. Not even the escape pods usually present or the larger ships used by the facility workers were there. It was as if they had all been wiped out and never even existed. They could only hope that it was because the workers and Ty had escaped the planet, which would also support the fact that they didn't have contact since the models Canis Lunis used were a bit outdated and required close contact with whatever they were trying to reach, but something felt off somehow.
"Okay team, listen up," he turned to face his three companions who had been surveying the area, "Mira and Booster, you guys check the top floors and the hallways. XR, you try to get those control panels working so we can-"
"Ohhhhhh no you don't," interrupted XR, "I am NOT going to be the only one doing something alone while you guys have each other! Might I remind you that we're on one of the most energy-producing planets in the Galactic Alliance, a.k.a NOS-4-A2's heaven?! Who knows if he's gonna follow us and get ambushed?" He folded his arms, "Oh actually, maybe he'll just attack the one who he can actually get any energy from. I see absolutely NO flaws in sending me out by myself." Mira chuckled and Buzz sighed.
"Fine. Mira and XR can try to get communications up and check security while I check out the first floor. Booster, you'll be alright on your own?" The robot smiled.
"Affirmative, Buzz," said Booster, saluting before heading towards the landing field's entrance while the rest of the team activated their jetpacks and flew down to the planet's surface. After getting through the airlock security, Buzz split off from Mira and XR, the latter giving him a flashlight just in case.
The hallways were dark and gloomy. He somehow felt both totally alone and like he was being watched. For the most part, however, Buzz kept his flashlight shined down the central hallway until it hit the science bay at the end. He knew there was bound to be something useful in there, possibly even a survivor or two, but he was still weary as he picked up the pace.
Something clattered in the room he was about to pass. Immediately, Buzz shined his flashlight into the pitch-black space, where piles of boxes had toppled over, all with Canis Lunis symbols on them. He took a step in, shining his light over the clutter and searching for any clues he could use to make sense of all this. A small groan came from the corner of the room. It wasn't threatening like he would have expected, it was rather...weak. And it came from a voice he knew. He stepped closer.
"Ty?" No response. He took a step closer and aimed his light right at the source of the sound. His eyes widened at the sight of the man lying limp on the metal ground. No sound or movement came from Ty as Buzz ran over. It was when Buzz put a hand on the ranger that his eyes finally began to slowly flutter. Buzz felt such sorrow for him, whatever had happened. He looked so tired, so weak, like he had just barely escaped alive. Ty coughed a bit and blood appeared on his hand, to Buzz's concern. There was a moment where Buzz just looked at his friend, not sure what to do. He didn't seem to have any major injuries, but his uniform had been clawed to shreds and his appearance was that of a corpse. Whatever happened to him was no good sign, and Buzz made sure to secure the area and make sure he didn't reach the same fate. He scanned the room once more, looking back at the room's entrance and making sure they were alone.
"...Buzz?" He immediately turned to the barely comprehensible and shaky voice. It sounded like he had just talked through static.
"T-Ty! Wha...w-what happened to you?!" He sounded a bit more frightened than he wanted to. Fear wasn't something he preferred to expose. Ty reached out and firmly grabbed his arm to Buzz's surprise, opening his bloodshot eyes and looking beyond terrified.
"Buzz. Leave... NOW." Again, his voice sounded to be interrupted with some sort of static, breaking up his phrasing like a television switching channels. It didn't sound human.
"What? Ty, I need you to tell me what's going on. We'll get ya outta here soon, I just need to know what happened-"
"No, Buzz. Y-You don't understand," his eyes filled with tears and his voice was breaking, "you've GOT to leave, NOW. I...it…" his breathing grew heavy, "You don't know how much danger you're in." Buzz opened his mouth to respond, but he couldn't find the words. Whether he was going to believe Ty or not was still in question, but he did know that it would be foolish to just stay here and talk with some sort of monster on the loose. He began to help Parsec up, but he refused the support and yanked himself away.
"Buzz, no...leave me here...please…just go." Buzz looked in utter shock and confusion. Ty had never talked this way before, nor did he ever seem so broken and far from his normal self. The static in his voice grew heavier with every word he spoke. Buzz knew that wasn't a good sign.
"I'm not leaving you here, buddy, that's ridiculous. We have 42 and we can get ya back to Star Command if you'd rather talk there but we need to know about the facility workers now. Do you know where everyone else is?" Buzz asked, eager for answers to come out.
"...Who's we?" Ty's concern chirped.
"Just me and my team, buddy. Nothing to worry about, there's no one documenting this rescue other than Booster probably," he replied, forcing a small chuckle then quickly realizing it probably wasn't something to say in front of Ty.
"Shut UP Buzz just listen to me. Is XR here?"
"Uh, yeah why?" Ty went pale. Well, paler than he already was.
"Get him out of here. N-Now. And yourself. I can't risk anyone getting hurt, just tell Nebula everyone was evacuated and that's good enough for now. Just come back tomorrow morning for me. I can...I can handle this for now." Buzz blinked a few times.
"Again, I would never just leave ya here when you're in no condition to defend yourself. Plus, it's sunset right now so there's no point in waiting to bring you back. Just c'mon." Ty froze.
"W-WHAT?!" His breathing sped up as he backed further away from Buzz. His eyes grew heavy and his limbs shook with terror. He had slept through the entire day. Buzz was here. And XR. He...that thing- no, that MONSTER was going to kill everyone and it would be his fault.
"Ty!? What's going on?!" Buzz sounded so worried and frustrated with his lack of knowledge of the situation. He reached his hand out like Ty was a wounded animal in need of his trust, but he only backed away further, his unnatural state still present and taunting the ranger that he couldn't help his friend. Ty felt beyond nauseous but refused to release any more tears. His soldier instincts gave him the power to forget about what he had endured, and what was yet to come. He didn't matter to himself for the moment, but Buzz did. He still had time. Not a lot, but enough to get himself and his team off the planet. Whether they could come back for him or not didn't matter.
The window above Ty slowly revealed a new source of light, a green glow that crept up far enough to hit Buzz while Ty's place against the wall kept him hidden. A shiver ran down his spine. He was too late. He could only watch in horror as the green light ran down Buzz's face...slithered across the floor…until the angle at which the moonlight slowly began to creep towards him by the second. He was running out of time. Buzz finally had enough and gently helped Ty on his feet, grabbing his hand and leading him towards the door.
"You're coming with us and that's an or-" he felt the shaking hand of Ty suddenly tense and run cold. Slowly, he turned to face the hand he was holding, only to find that Ty's lower arm had been covered- no, completely replaced with some kind of metal limb. Instead of a human hand, four razor sharp white claws twice the size of a finger intertwined themselves around Buzz's own hand. The structure was unlike any kind of droid he had ever seen. It was cold, lifeless, and dangerous. He met Ty's eyes which had shut themselves, his expression showing his fight to keep them closed, but they opened and flashed a blinding red light.
"Run."
Hello you amazing beautiful people! Thank you so much for tuning in to this first chapter of a new series I've started! This idea was based off of the new series "What If…?" by Marvel, which I grew fond of very quickly. Basically they found a way to write their own fanfiction, lol. Anyways, this particular story is a two-parter which will hopefully be completed soon depending on how busy I get XD. Also, if any of you guys have any kind of requests for anything you'd like to see in this particular fanfic, be sure to contact me or leave a review! It would be greatly appreciated! Again, thank you guys so much for reading this, and I'll see you guys in the next chapter!
-Kittywizard
