To Infinity and Beyond

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To Infinity and Beyond

Episode 02: Darkness Rises

© 15th of April 2006 – Kitty Ocean for the story; Disney (Buzz Lightyear from Star Command) for the characters

This story is a Fan fiction, and only for free entertainment purposes. 

 

Light slowly appeared, as the girl moved with her hand to her head. “Oh…” She mumbled carefully. “Which refrigerator-door hit me…?” The headache slowly started to grow larger and larger, and Nané moaned slightly while sitting down.

“Welcome.” She suddenly heard and looked up.

Nané’s eyes grew large, and because of astonishment, she momentarily forgot about her headache. She was sitting on a large red sofa in a room decorated with heavy dark red drapes, as well as mysterious candles. The floor was paved with reflecting marble tiles, in which she could see herself clearly (and decided not to get off the couch concerning her short night gown). “Holy Freaking Wow…” She mumbled, gazing around one more time.

“Welcome, my dear Nané Sophia.” A large figure appeared out of no where; dressed in a large purple robe and a smile that would scare a ghost.

Nané didn’t move from the couch. “Evil Emperor Zurg, I presume?” She carelessly mentioned. She yawned a bit, and suddenly felt the headache coming back.

“Darn, now you ruined my dramatic entrance.” Zurg sighed. “But who cares? Welcome at Planet Z. How are you feeling?”

“Like a space ship hit me and decided to back up to find out what it hit.” Nané answered truthfully.

“My, is there anything I can do about it?” Zurg sat down next to her. “Do you want an aspirin?”

Nané immediately scooped away from him. “Excuse me?” She started. “That sounded pretty bad Zurg. What do you want from me?”

Zurg snapped his fingers and a Grub hurried into the room with a glass of water and an aspirin. “Here, have something to drink.” He smiled kindly. “Anything else I can help you with? A pillow perhaps?”

“Okay, now I’m getting scared!” Nané yelled and jumped from the couch. “What the hell is wrong with you Zurg; you’re an EVIL Emperor; start acting like one!”

“Why you annoying bra-…” Zurg clenched his fist.

A Grub pulled the Emperor’s cape. “Your Evilness, perhaps…”

Zurg immediately pushed him away. “Get lost, you idiot!” He hissed, but because of his strength, the Grub accidentally hit a control panel, and the entire room vanished. It got completely replaced by something less dark yet romantic. Modern in every way, this indeed looked more like an Evil Emperor’s lair. Nané sighed relieved when she noticed the room was just a hologram. “Now, where were we?” Zurg looked with a smile, and tried to stay as nice as before. “Please forgive me for the lack of decorations for a lady like yours. Is there anything I could get you?”

“Maybe a bucket so I can throw up?”

“Are you feeling ill?”

“Not yet, but if you keep on acting out of character, I will!” Nané added annoyed.

Zurg suddenly grabbed her arm. “What?!” He bellowed. “I could crush you in a minute!”

“Then do so and stop acting like I’m a Goddess from Beyond!” Nané yelled back and pulled herself loose.

Zurg let himself flop down on his hovering chair and started to cry on one of the sides. “Oh, woe me!” He started. “I’m just a poor evil Emperor, with no good help whatsoever. If I only had someone as skilled and kind as you!” Then he peeked under his arm. “Is it working?” He asked curious.

“Not at all.” Nané said, and couldn’t help but adding a little smirk to her face.

 

Buzz slammed his fist against the wall. After he pulled his arm back, XR started examining the wall. “Mm, I must admit.” He said. “They are getting less deep. I think he’s cooling down. You can try talking to him now.”

“Don’t feel bad Buzz.” Mira tried. “It’s not your fault.”

“Yeah, who would have thought Zurg would send Warp to…”

“But it IS my fault!” Buzz complained, and now added his head to the wall as well. “I’ve never failed a mission before.”

“Then how about…?” XR started, but the eyes from his team members said enough. “Just think of it like this: there is a first time for everything!”

“XR!” Booster hissed. “What will we do now Buzz? Commander Nebula was so upset with us. Are we really doomed now?”

“No, we are not.” Buzz proclaimed. “Because we are getting her back!”

“The Commander will never give us permission.” Mira tried to reason with him. “And Planet Z… only a small ship can get in undetected! He will never give us a ship like that!”

“He won’t give us a ship, because he won’t know about this.” Buzz said determined. “Get ready and don’t talk to anyone. We will leave within the hour!”

 

Warp Darkmatter entered the room with a big bucket of popcorn. He sat down on a simple chair in the corner, and enjoyed watching the show. A smile came across his face, as well as a feeling of true peace.

“I command you to join my evil army!” Zurg pointed at Nané, who had her arms folded.

“Oh yeah, it’s so evil that it can’t defeat Star Command!” Nané threw back. Warp sighed happily. This was the first time he met someone who wasn’t afraid to yell back at his employer. This was probably due to her inexperience and naivety, but who cared? It was a good show.

“What are parents teaching their children nowadays?!” Zurg raised his fist. “No respect for Evil Emperors any more!”

“I have respect for Evil Emperors, not stupid ones.” Nané stuck out her tongue.

“Do you have any idea how annoying you are?!”

“Do you have any idea how stupid you are?” Nané threw back.

“You have a stupid uniform!” Zurg pointed at her.

“I’m not wearing my uniform!” Nané opened her arms. “And like yours is so great!”

Warp decided to cross his legs and stuff another hand into the bucket of popcorn. Now this was something he could enjoy seeing for the rest of his life…

 

On the other side of the galaxy, Star ship 42 has just launched into space. It was awfully silent on board, and if it would have been something solid, you could cut the tension.

“Buzz?” Booster asked carefully and worried. “Do you really think Nané will join Zurg?”

Buzz sighed. “I don’t know Booster. I honestly don’t know.” He saw in the corner of his eye Mira even gasped. “She just joined Star Command.” He explained. “He will try to persuade her, by offering something amazing.”

“Warp got money and an amazing Space Suit! Not to mention that mechanical arm!” XR filled in. “And what does Star Command have to offer? A Crappy Health Insurance! Do you know we have to pay for every…”

“XR…” Buzz only sighed in a reply.

“Oh, sorry Buzz.” XR mentioned quickly, and then became silent. It didn’t take him long to roll to Booster, and nudged him. “Hey Booster, buddy, how about forgetting the idea of getting killed, and getting to Fortune, that planet with all the casino’s?” He whispered.

“XR…” Booster only said annoyed.

“My, aren’t we all grumpy today.” XR mumbled, and rolled back to his seat, folding his robotic arms.

 

“If you join us now, I’ll give you this nifty Health Insurance!” The Grubs showed Nané a few pieces of paper, but she didn’t bother to look. Instead of that, she released a short yawn. Zurg then turned around, offering something else. “You’ll get this enormous ship!” He said with a loud voice.

Nané looked and saw a beautiful space ship, surrounded by Grubs who were acting like game show hosts. “No, thank you.” She tried to stay cool, but actually, she was starting to get cold in her night gown. If she would ever make it out of here alive, she would probably dress warmer for the night. Yeah, that sounded like a plan.

“And this cute little rubber ducky for your bath!” Nané turned around with a mouth wide open, gasping at the sight of the little yellow rubber duck Zurg was holding. A soft squeak came after a pinch from Zurg.

“A rubber duck?” Nané was confused as she took the duck in her hands. “Huh?”

“Hey, that’s MY rubber ducky!” Warp suddenly leaped up.

“Not any more.” Zurg calmly replied, while Nané couldn’t help herself but being adored by the little thing. She pinched it a few times, until she remembered the crisis that was at hands. “What are you looking at?”

“You.” Nané simply replied, with a giggle. “I’m just wondering how long it will take you before you will realise that I’m loyal to Star Command. Forever and ever!” She turned around, still holding the rubber duck. “Nothing you will offer can make me change my mind.”

“Is that so?” Zurg turned around dramatically and pushed a button. A few grubs pushed open two large doors, and Nané was blinded by the light that came from it. She blinked a few times, and held her arm up to block some of the light. When the light died down, she gazed upon a space suit; more modern than she had ever seen before! This suit made Star Command’s suit look like a janitor’s suit!

“What the freak?” Nané gasped.

“I see you are impressed! (Finally!)” Zurg tapped his fingers against each other. “Just look at this beauty. It’s more resistant to heat, cold, laser and anything else there exists. It recharges ammo faster than your silly Star Command wrist laser. This suit, the Power Suit 1000 Gamma is THE ultimate wish for ANY space warrior!”

Nané observed the suit from top to bottom. “What happened to the Alpha and Beta version?” She then inquired.

Zurg put his arm around her and moved her towards the suit. “Oh, nothing, nothing important. Well, what do you say?”

Nané decided to put up a stern face, and looked thinking. She looked at the suit, mumbling ‘mm’ occasionally. Zurg first waited patiently, with his smile, but as time ticked on, the smile slowly disappeared. It was annoying how long Nané decided to think things through, even while she didn’t let herself be distracted by the snoring of Warp and some Grubs.

“Well?” Zurg finally dared to ask; starting to lose his nice mood.

“Mm…” Nané started. “How about… no? How does that sound?” Zurg almost exploded in pure fury! “I like the sound of no.” Nané added, but wasn’t certain if it was wise to do so.

Zurg raged through the room, and kicked the poor Grubs that were not fast enough to get out of the way in time. Yet, they still replied with ‘Thank you, your most evilness.’ Warp first watched Zurg as the Emperor slammed his fist on the table, but then looked back at Nané. In her eyes he could read she was getting a bit uneasy. Her confident attitude was gone for a moment, as he realised she honestly started to fear for her life now. She rejected every offer Zurg had made, only to stay loyal to Star Command. ‘Silly child.’ Warp smiled. ‘She should have taken the offer. Evil pays better than good anyway. But it was a nice show.’

“That’s it!” Zurg growled and turned around. “Time for plan 345!”

“He’s still going through with this?” Warp mumbled. “Is he just plain stupid or too patient for his own good?”

Warp saw Zurg grabbed Nané, who seemed to be shocked by the sudden action. “Look into my eyes!”

Nané tried to stay confident. “What’s so special about your eyes?” She tried to smile. But then she noticed his eyes were starting to glow in green and yellow, and a weird feeling took over from her.

“You are evil, do you hear me?” Zurg commanded her. “Look into my eyes, you are evil!”

“I… I am evil?” Nané looked a bit drowsy and wobbled a bit. While she was confused, Zurg kept on holding her, and made sure she was still looking into his eyes.

“Yes, yes!” Zurg continued. “You are very evil. Not only that, you are the number one of my entire army!”

“Hey, you said I was number one!” Warp complained from his bench.

“Well, now you are number two.” Zurg simply mentioned and let go of Nané. She wobbled a bit on her feet, and moved her hand to her head. Then Nané shook her head a bit, and looked around a bit more. “Well?”

Nané raised her face and looked directly into the expectation eyes of Zurg. A smile appeared on her face; a wicked one, as she kneeled down on the ground. She could feel Zurg getting rejoiced in every part of her body, as she said: “My Emperor.”

Zurg cheered. “Yes! I did it! Buzz Lightyear, you are so going down!” In utter joy, he grabbed a Grub and threw it through the room. He didn’t notice the sulking Warp on the other side of the room. He wouldn’t care anyway. Good help was hard to find, and Nané promised to be one hell of a help! “Nané!” He took her hand. “Welcome, to my empire!”

“I am only loyal to you, my evil emperor.” Nané smiled. And while Zurg did not notice Warp, Nané did, and another wicked smile filled her face. This was going to be her day…

 

Buzz stared into deep space. The blackness seemed to be sucking him in like a black hole (and he could know that, since he had seen quite a few!). Soon planet Z would appear in visual, and the plan to get inside undetected promised to be more tricky then expected.

‘Warp…’ Buzz thought. ‘You did it again! Why do you always manage to outsmart me? But I won’t lose Warp; I will never lose from you! I will prove you I am still the number one of Star Command!’

“Buzz, are you all right?” Mira suddenly asked, and Buzz shook up from his thoughts.

“Huh, what?” He started, but then looked ticked off. “Of course I’m all right! Why wouldn’t be all right?”

“Because you are using XR to steer the ship.”

Buzz looked at his hands and noticed he was holding XR’s legs instead of the steering wheel. The little robot almost cried in panic, while he waved his arms. “I only wanted to know if you wanted some coffee! That’s all!”

“Buzz?” Booster took XR from Buzz’s hands. “Maybe you should get some rest. If we reach Zurg…”

“I can’t!” Buzz gritted his teeth. “I’ve never failed a mission before, and I didn’t plan on failing one now!” He grabbed the steering wheel again (the real one, might I add!). “Who knows what kind of torment or temptations he is putting her through right now! She’s only a rookie; she doesn’t stand a chance!”

 

“Oh… Oh!” Zurg played with his fingers. “And it fits so well.” He walked at Nané and observed her from all sides; top to bottom. His Power Suit was looking great on her; in the colours black and red. “Yes, yes…” He nodded approving. “And it has so much extra’s.”

“So it seems.” Nané looked at herself in a mirror as well. “Not exactly my colour, but I guess I shouldn’t be picky. After all, I got this suit as an exchange to my loyalty.”

“Loyalty.” Warp sulked in a corner. “She just got here and is already made number one. I was always number one. And now some stupid newbie rookie took my place. I was already on his payroll during the Academy. And she just entered the Academy!” Warp looked away while complaining. “It’s just not fair.”

Zurg made sure everything was in place for a final check up. Nané flipped her hair back, and looked with a face filled with arrogance. “My dear Nané.” Zurg started nicely. “How about a test spin for this lovely suit?”

Nané nodded approving. “Yeah, I might enjoy that.” Nané looked around for a while, until she found the sulking Warp Darkmatter. The arrogant face for accompanied by an arrogant smirk, as she raised her arm. Around her wrist and hand a large weapon suddenly formed, and without a warning, Nané fired it at Warp! “At least now he honours his name.” The girl grinned as she pretended to blow away smoke from the weapon that vanished around her hand. Warp on the other hand, could not smile at all, while he was suddenly as black as possible. A small cough betrayed he was not only in pain, but also quite surprised by the act.

“How deliciously evil.” Zurg smiled. “I think I will enjoy your style.”

“I already enjoy it.” Nané replied, and turned away from Warp. She then bowed and smiled. “I only serve you, my great Evil Emperor.”

“Not fair…” Warp complained again, but was ignored by his employer once more. “I got here first…”

Zurg rubbed his hands. “Now nothing will be able to stop me any more!” He exclaimed in pure joy. “The day the galaxy will be mine is on hands! I will rule it all! My diabolical plan will finally succeed!” He clapped in his hands. “Oh joy! Star Command will finally be crushed! Buzz Lightyear will be crushed!” He stopped a moment. “Oo, that sounded good. Let me say that again! Buzz Lightyear will be crushed!” Then he turned to the bored Nané. “I promised myself I would not cry.” He sniffed. “But you must understand that it feels amazing if one of your plans finally succeeds.”

“I think I understand.” Nané only said uninterested. She played a bit with the options of her suit, until a massive ice cannon appeared around her left hand. “Correction, I do understand it!” She turned around and aimed again at Warp, who already managed to fill in the blanks. “Well Warp…” Nané began. “Ready for Round 2?”

 

To be continued…

 

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