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Chapter Six: Something Isn't Right

Ty lay on his bed in the dark of his room, the glow of the TV screen flickering across his features as he watched the recording of Zurg's challenge to Star Command.

"...So I'll wait one hour. I yearn to see what you'll do about it." Maniacal laugh.

Ty pointed the remote at the screen and watched the video dance backwards to the beginning.

"Commander Nebula and Buzz Lightyear..."

Ty set the remote on his night stand so as not to drain it and laid his hand on his chest. Maybe by studying the video, Ty could discover Zurg's weakness. That's what the displaced ranger told himself, anyway. Really, he was attempting to sooth his damaged pride by helping in the only way available to him.

"Commander Nebula and Buzz Lightyear..."

Why was he so irked not to be part of this particular mission? He hadn't ever been put on a Zurg mission before and there had been plenty of those.

Perhaps all the attention paid him during the wirewolf calamity had given him a taste for the spotlight. As reasonable as this explanation seemed, its timbre was all wrong. There was something else bothering him about the whole situation. But what?

Rewind. "Commander Nebula and Buzz Lightyear..."

Figures Zurg would only address those two. The other five-hundred faithful rangers were just backdrop, right?

"Just a backdrop," Ty muttered.

Despite the nightmare of his transformations, Ty and Buzz had worked closer during that time than ever before. Buzz had watched over him as if they were mission partners. One would think they would have stayed as such, now that it was clear Ty had it in him to handle tense situations too: now that the commander had seen how well they worked together.

Ty surprised himself; did he seriously want to work with Buzz, risking the inevitable teasing and humiliating rescues?

"Commander Nebula and Buzz..."

Something in the video caught Ty's eye, though it was gone before he could name it. He backed up the video again.

"Commander Nebula—" There it was again: a little flash of light.

He backed it up.

"Commander— Com—" Ty paused the video and squinted at the light recorded in the lens. A light had shown at the camera for a brief moment from somewhere behind Zurg.

Using the slowest rewinding speed possible on the remote, Ty watched the light retract into a large machine in the background. He pushed the video forward a bit and the light shone again: not around, but directly through the Emperor.

Why would Zurg use a hologram of himself for gloating? Whatever the reason, it was apparent that Buzz and his crew were heading into a trap.

Ty jumped up and threw open his closet, because he wasn't about to go searching Star Command for Nebula in his undersuit. He pulled on one of his ranger suits and hurried into the hall, invigorated as much by alarm as he was by the fresh energy.

Ty stopped by Commander Nebula's office first, hoping he was in there and they could talk in private. He didn't want to make any more of a scene than he already had, but Ty found the office locked and empty.

"He must be on the command deck," Ty said to himself as he ran down the hall.

Every second they wasted brought Buzz and his team closer to defeat. Ty nearly slid around a corner, grabbing the wall to keep his balance, and slowed to a brisk walk as he entered the command deck.

Sure enough, Nebula was standing with his back to the large window circling the space station, explaining the situation to the rangers who may or may not have seen Zurg's transmission.

Ty stopped at the back of the last row of rangers, self-concious. The commander was giving out wrong instruction, leading all of Star Command straight into whatever Zurg had planned for them. Yet Ty wasn't keen on interrupting him and therefore having an audience of skeptics as he tried to convice the commnader of his mistake.

He stayed put for a few seconds more, trying to decide what to do. Maybe he could wait until Nebula was done speaking.

"And Deka, I want you to take a team to Capital Planet to aid in evacuation. I'll contact Madam President and—"

Ty couldn't afford to wait til the end of the speech. So with a deep breath, Ty raised his hand.

"Commander Nebula!" he called.

The commander stopped speaking and, along with everyone else in the room, stared at Ty. Ty's raised hand wilted a little.

"I have new information on the situation," Ty explained in his most disciplined space ranger voice.

"Parsec!" Nebula barked. "What are you doing out of the lab?"

Ty pushed forward through the crowd; some rangers stepped out of the way, while others blocked his path teasingly, but Nebula told them to let him through. Finally Ty was face to face with the commander.

"You're supposed to be lettin' the LGMs work on you," Nebula reminded.

"Just hear me out," Ty begged, glancing at the audience. A woman in the front had her arms crossed; two men in the back were talking and motioning towards him; Blayne was staring on in confusion. Ty turned back to the commander.

"I was watching Zurg's message over again to see if I could pick up any clues—"

"Clues to what?" Nebula asked.

"Weaknesses or—"

"Ty, you are not part of this mission—"

Ty threw his arms into the air. "I know!" Quickly, he cleared his throat and corrected his tone. "I know. But I found something and if you just watch the transmission again," he said as he moved towards one of the video screens, "you'll see it too."

Ty was reluctant to touch anything electrical, but remembering his suit was feeding him, he typed a command into the screen. Nebula and the other rangers gathered around as the video played. Ty stopped it after the greeting.

"Did you see it? There was a flash of light, right as he starts."

No one seemed to have caught it so Ty rolled his eyes and played it again.

"See?"

No one had.

"It took me a while to catch it myself," Ty reasoned, "but trust me: it's there." He rewound it again and paused, missing it. He rewound, but missed it again.

Commander Nebula chewed his mustache as he observed.

"How many times did you watch this, Parsec?"

It had to have been at least fifteen times, but to say so would make him seem obsessed and delusional, like Buzz had been about Zurg's pen. But Buzz had been right in the end, and likewise, Ty knew he was not mistaken.

"I'm not sure," Ty answered.

There was no laughing: just a few murmurs from the crowd. The commander was painfully silent however, thinking. Then he carefully draped his arm over Ty's shoulders.

"Son, you've been going through a tough ordeal lately with the wirewolf thing..."

Murmurs got louder.

"I'm not the wirewolf anymore," Ty assured them with a nervous smile, holding desperately to his credibility. "Don't worry."

Nebula continued. "Leave the ranger stuff to us until your back on your feet, okay Ty?"

Ty looked at Nebula pleadingly. "But this is really important, Commander. I think it's a trap and Buzz's team – all of us – are in serious danger."

"Because of the flash of light."

"Yes!"

Commander Nebula removed his arm and stifled a disappointed sigh. "Go back to the lab, Ty," he instructed softly as he turned off the video. "Don't make me have you officially confined there."

Ty glanced around at the crowd, looking for someone who believed him, but no one did. Everyone felt sorry for him; Blayne seemed ready to cry.

Ty frowned angrily. "So this is the great Star Command," he said disdainfully. "united unless someone disagrees."

He pushed back through the crowd, his head low. Everyone stepped out of his way that time. When he was several feet down the hall, he heard Nebula address the rangers again.

Ty passed a vending machine and stopped at it looking at his own fuming reflection in the glass. He removed one of his gloves and pressed his hand squarely on the light. Ty breathed in with intention and with the air came electricity buzzing as it trailed through his fingers, up his arm and was dispersed through his body.

With another deep breath, the vending machine was out of order.

Ty looked at his fingers in wonder; such a power could come in handy. He could disable weapons, deactivate tracking beacons... just like Nos-4—no. Not like that monster.

Ty made it to his room and sat on his bed, deep in thought. The communicator in the biohazard bag didn't show that the LGMs had called; who knew when they would? The ranger looked up at the video screen, still with the paused frame of Zurg's hologram.
Buzz and his team were in trouble, whether Star Command listened or not. If Ty wanted to avoid a potential tragedy, he would need to do something himself and hope the other rangers would come to their senses.

He knelt and pulled a small suitcase from under his bed. Then he opened his closet and took all four of his spacesuits off their hangers and folded them into the suitcase. He wasn't going to suffocate on a rescue mission.

As Ty zipped the bag, he thought of the consequences following what he planned to do. Whatever bits of a good reputation he had would be shattered. He could give up the idea of ever doing anything more exciting than filing - if he wasn't relieved of duty altogether. And being a ranger meant so much to him...

But what was the use of being a ranger if he didn't do his job? He thought about Mira, Booster, XR. He thought about Buzz: his best friend for as long as he could remember. Sure the guy was arrogant and thickheaded, and Ty knew that calling to warn him would do no good, since when Buzz pursued Zurg, he became deaf to reason. But Ty was pessimistic and clumsy. Who was he to judge? At least Buzz tried; he always tried to be a good friend.

That's more than anyone else had done; including himself.

Ty hardened his jaw in determination; even if he was mistaken, even if it landed him in jail, Ty would save Buzz.

He grabbed the suitcase and took what he thought would probably be his last look at his room.

Description
Chapter Six: Something Isn't Right

Ty lay on his bed in the dark of his room, the glow of the TV screen flickering across his features as he watched the recording of Zurg's challenge to Star Command.

"...So I'll wait one hour. I yearn to see what you'll do about it." Maniacal laugh.

Ty pointed the remote at the screen and watched the video dance backwards to the beginning.

"Commander Nebula and Buzz Lightyear..."

Ty set the remote on his night stand so as not to drain it and laid his hand on his chest. Maybe by studying the video, Ty could discover Zurg's weakness. That's what the displaced ranger told himself, anyway. Really, he was attempting to sooth his damaged pride by helping in the only way available to him.

"Commander Nebula and Buzz Lightyear..."

Why was he so irked not to be part of this particular mission? He hadn't ever been put on a Zurg mission before and there had been plenty of those.

Perhaps all the attention paid him during the wirewolf calamity had given him a taste for the spotlight. As reasonable as this explanation seemed, its timbre was all wrong. There was something else bothering him about the whole situation. But what?

Rewind. "Commander Nebula and Buzz Lightyear..."

Figures Zurg would only address those two. The other five-hundred faithful rangers were just backdrop, right?

"Just a backdrop," Ty muttered.

Despite the nightmare of his transformations, Ty and Buzz had worked closer during that time than ever before. Buzz had watched over him as if they were mission partners. One would think they would have stayed as such, now that it was clear Ty had it in him to handle tense situations too: now that the commander had seen how well they worked together.

Ty surprised himself; did he seriously want to work with Buzz, risking the inevitable teasing and humiliating rescues?

"Commander Nebula and Buzz..."

Something in the video caught Ty's eye, though it was gone before he could name it. He backed up the video again.

"Commander Nebula—" There it was again: a little flash of light.

He backed it up.

"Commander— Com—" Ty paused the video and squinted at the light recorded in the lens. A light had shown at the camera for a brief moment from somewhere behind Zurg.

Using the slowest rewinding speed possible on the remote, Ty watched the light retract into a large machine in the background. He pushed the video forward a bit and the light shone again: not around, but directly through the Emperor.

Why would Zurg use a hologram of himself for gloating? Whatever the reason, it was apparent that Buzz and his crew were heading into a trap.

Ty jumped up and threw open his closet, because he wasn't about to go searching Star Command for Nebula in his undersuit. He pulled on one of his ranger suits and hurried into the hall, invigorated as much by alarm as he was by the fresh energy.

Ty stopped by Commander Nebula's office first, hoping he was in there and they could talk in private. He didn't want to make any more of a scene than he already had, but Ty found the office locked and empty.

"He must be on the command deck," Ty said to himself as he ran down the hall.

Every second they wasted brought Buzz and his team closer to defeat. Ty nearly slid around a corner, grabbing the wall to keep his balance, and slowed to a brisk walk as he entered the command deck.

Sure enough, Nebula was standing with his back to the large window circling the space station, explaining the situation to the rangers who may or may not have seen Zurg's transmission.

Ty stopped at the back of the last row of rangers, self-concious. The commander was giving out wrong instruction, leading all of Star Command straight into whatever Zurg had planned for them. Yet Ty wasn't keen on interrupting him and therefore having an audience of skeptics as he tried to convice the commnader of his mistake.

He stayed put for a few seconds more, trying to decide what to do. Maybe he could wait until Nebula was done speaking.

"And Deka, I want you to take a team to Capital Planet to aid in evacuation. I'll contact Madam President and—"

Ty couldn't afford to wait til the end of the speech. So with a deep breath, Ty raised his hand.

"Commander Nebula!" he called.

The commander stopped speaking and, along with everyone else in the room, stared at Ty. Ty's raised hand wilted a little.

"I have new information on the situation," Ty explained in his most disciplined space ranger voice.

"Parsec!" Nebula barked. "What are you doing out of the lab?"

Ty pushed forward through the crowd; some rangers stepped out of the way, while others blocked his path teasingly, but Nebula told them to let him through. Finally Ty was face to face with the commander.

"You're supposed to be lettin' the LGMs work on you," Nebula reminded.

"Just hear me out," Ty begged, glancing at the audience. A woman in the front had her arms crossed; two men in the back were talking and motioning towards him; Blayne was staring on in confusion. Ty turned back to the commander.

"I was watching Zurg's message over again to see if I could pick up any clues—"

"Clues to what?" Nebula asked.

"Weaknesses or—"

"Ty, you are not part of this mission—"

Ty threw his arms into the air. "I know!" Quickly, he cleared his throat and corrected his tone. "I know. But I found something and if you just watch the transmission again," he said as he moved towards one of the video screens, "you'll see it too."

Ty was reluctant to touch anything electrical, but remembering his suit was feeding him, he typed a command into the screen. Nebula and the other rangers gathered around as the video played. Ty stopped it after the greeting.

"Did you see it? There was a flash of light, right as he starts."

No one seemed to have caught it so Ty rolled his eyes and played it again.

"See?"

No one had.

"It took me a while to catch it myself," Ty reasoned, "but trust me: it's there." He rewound it again and paused, missing it. He rewound, but missed it again.

Commander Nebula chewed his mustache as he observed.

"How many times did you watch this, Parsec?"

It had to have been at least fifteen times, but to say so would make him seem obsessed and delusional, like Buzz had been about Zurg's pen. But Buzz had been right in the end, and likewise, Ty knew he was not mistaken.

"I'm not sure," Ty answered.

There was no laughing: just a few murmurs from the crowd. The commander was painfully silent however, thinking. Then he carefully draped his arm over Ty's shoulders.

"Son, you've been going through a tough ordeal lately with the wirewolf thing..."

Murmurs got louder.

"I'm not the wirewolf anymore," Ty assured them with a nervous smile, holding desperately to his credibility. "Don't worry."

Nebula continued. "Leave the ranger stuff to us until your back on your feet, okay Ty?"

Ty looked at Nebula pleadingly. "But this is really important, Commander. I think it's a trap and Buzz's team – all of us – are in serious danger."

"Because of the flash of light."

"Yes!"

Commander Nebula removed his arm and stifled a disappointed sigh. "Go back to the lab, Ty," he instructed softly as he turned off the video. "Don't make me have you officially confined there."

Ty glanced around at the crowd, looking for someone who believed him, but no one did. Everyone felt sorry for him; Blayne seemed ready to cry.

Ty frowned angrily. "So this is the great Star Command," he said disdainfully. "united unless someone disagrees."

He pushed back through the crowd, his head low. Everyone stepped out of his way that time. When he was several feet down the hall, he heard Nebula address the rangers again.

Ty passed a vending machine and stopped at it looking at his own fuming reflection in the glass. He removed one of his gloves and pressed his hand squarely on the light. Ty breathed in with intention and with the air came electricity buzzing as it trailed through his fingers, up his arm and was dispersed through his body.

With another deep breath, the vending machine was out of order.

Ty looked at his fingers in wonder; such a power could come in handy. He could disable weapons, deactivate tracking beacons... just like Nos-4—no. Not like that monster.

Ty made it to his room and sat on his bed, deep in thought. The communicator in the biohazard bag didn't show that the LGMs had called; who knew when they would? The ranger looked up at the video screen, still with the paused frame of Zurg's hologram.
Buzz and his team were in trouble, whether Star Command listened or not. If Ty wanted to avoid a potential tragedy, he would need to do something himself and hope the other rangers would come to their senses.

He knelt and pulled a small suitcase from under his bed. Then he opened his closet and took all four of his spacesuits off their hangers and folded them into the suitcase. He wasn't going to suffocate on a rescue mission.

As Ty zipped the bag, he thought of the consequences following what he planned to do. Whatever bits of a good reputation he had would be shattered. He could give up the idea of ever doing anything more exciting than filing - if he wasn't relieved of duty altogether. And being a ranger meant so much to him...

But what was the use of being a ranger if he didn't do his job? He thought about Mira, Booster, XR. He thought about Buzz: his best friend for as long as he could remember. Sure the guy was arrogant and thickheaded, and Ty knew that calling to warn him would do no good, since when Buzz pursued Zurg, he became deaf to reason. But Ty was pessimistic and clumsy. Who was he to judge? At least Buzz tried; he always tried to be a good friend.

That's more than anyone else had done; including himself.

Ty hardened his jaw in determination; even if he was mistaken, even if it landed him in jail, Ty would save Buzz.

He grabbed the suitcase and took what he thought would probably be his last look at his room.