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Chapter Seven: A Bright Side

Ty didn't know what he would do once he caught up with Buzz, but he figured he would figure it out when he got there. There must be some way to convince Buzz he was leading his team in completely the wrong direction. If only he had been able to show them the video first! Not that it would have helped, Ty reminded himself sourly. It certainly hadn't gone over well with the commander and the rest of Star Command.

Why wouldn't they take something like this serious? Attacking Zurg when he hadn't done anything to deserve it could cause big problems for them, not only obvious-danger-wise, but also legally. Ty didn't know how savvy Zurg was with laws in the Galactic Alliance (not that Planet Z was part of such an alliance), but he could potentially destroy Star Command if he pulled the right strings. Ty knew that. He knew all about liabilities since the wirewolf thing—

Why did everything lead back to that?

Ty focused on steering the star cruiser towards Planet Z. The star cruiser had been easy to steal, since all of Star Command had been on the command deck still listening to Commander Nebula's faulty instruction. No doubt they knew by now that he had taken a ship: he didn't look forward to the consequences for that.
However, Ty hoped his being right would count for something. He knew he was right…well, he was pretty sure he was. Sure enough to be concerned and stop Buzz's invasion of Planet Z.

Maybe Buzz would listen, Ty thought. He flipped on the radio screen and called 42. A soothing screen with the Star Command logo greeted him and asked him to leave a message. Ty turned it off and urged the ship to go faster than it could.

Buzz had no way to know it was Ty calling him, so why wouldn't he answer? The team must have already landed and exited the ship.

"Buzz, you idiot," Ty breathed, checking the navagation screen on the dashboard, watching the small green triangle slowly approach the large red dot.

Ty circled the planet briefly, looking for star cruiser 42. He found it docked between two buildings in a seemingly abandoned section a mile or so from Zurg's main tower. Ty landed his own ship beside it and after changing into a new suit, climbed down the ladder and dropped onto the red muddy soil.

He ran to 42 first, hoping they were still in there and hadn't done anything destructive yet, but when he climbed into the dark cab, the lights flicking on when they sensed his presence, he knew they were already on their way to Zurg.

Ty climbed back down the ladder, heart pumping hard as he tried to figure out what to do next. He could call Buzz. Hopefully the protégé wasn't in a situation that the receiving beep on the other end would give him away. Ty opened the communicator and held it to his mouth as he eased himself down the ladder.

"Buzz, come in," he said, but the connection was faulty. Ty's heart beat faster. It couldn't be happening again. "Answer, will you!" he said louder, clanging the communicator against the ladder to loosen whatever dust or faulty wiring causing the static. "Abort mission!"

Laser fire ricochetted off the rung above his head, leaving a black streak across the top of his helmet. Ty looked below and sure enough, hornets gathered, blocking his descent. Ty looped his arm through one of the rungs and pressed his hand on his wrist laser.
But it didn't shoot. Ty cursed and hit it harder. "Go to Pluto, you Helio-forsaken bucket of—" SCRRRACK. Ty ducked another bolt and scrambled up the ladder, only to dodge a hornet whipping past him from above.

There were two of them—now three, hovering above him and a whole mess of them below. And because of probability, he didn't think the wings on his suit would work. They were at a standstill, Ty hugging the rungs of the ladder, the hornets hovering around him.
The hair on the back of his neck was on end. The air was different, electrified, and it sent a chill through him, and dried his mouth. Ty swallowed, suddenly thirsty and then realized what it was. Or at least what he thought it probably was.

Ty reached towards one of his gloves but then hesitated. He didn't want to test his theory. If he was proved wrong, he'd be blasted. But if he was right…oh, if he was right...

He grabbed the thick gloved fingers and pulled, exposing his bare hand. From the corner of his eye, he calculated the distance between himself and the nearest hornet. Arm's length, he thought. Careful not to encourage the hornets to shoot him, Ty moved closer.

If he failed…

Ty lunged forward and grabbed the hornet's slender neck with his bare hand. The hornet was stunned and did not fight. Staring sternly into the hornet's triangular eyes, Ty inhaled as deeply as he could. Blue electricity snaked up his arm, occasionally snapping outside his skin, flashing between him and and his prey. He watched the hornet's eye-lights dim until they were gone altogether.

When the hunk of metal and circuitry tugged his arm downward, he let go and let gravity take the hornet to the ground with a boom and a puff of red dust, taking out a few standing below. The hornets stared at their defeated peer for a couple seconds and then, as one, turned their heads towards him.

There was no way he could shut all of them off. His wrist laser didn't work, and he couldn't climb fast enough to get into the cockpit without getting shot. He was done for.

"Blast," he muttered to himself, squeezing the rung in his armpit.

As he surveyed what he was sure would be his last sight, Ty noticed that they no longer had their guns trained on him. That was beyond odd. Ty looked up to the hornets hovering around him. They were troublingly docile. Well, not troublingly, Ty reasoned. Docile is good. Docile is very good when it comes to lethal war machines, no matter how strange.

"Uh…" Ty repositioned his boots on the ladder and stood carefully from his crouch. "Go away…?"

One by one, they disappeared into the maze of buildings. In a matter of minutes, it was just him, 42, and the drained hornet. Ty climbed slowly down the ladder and stood over the drained hornet, knees knocking.

The more he tried to break away from Nos-4-A2, the more he seemed to become him. Now he could control hornets? Despite himself, a smile pulled one side of his face. He didn't even have to bite them. He just…persuaded…them to leave.

Though it was creepy and Ty didn't forsee much hope of ever undoing this – or many nights without nightmares – he had to admit that this new power was very good for the situation he and Buzz's team found themselves in.

He had become the invisible man: untouchable and unstoppable. Ty thought about this as he followed a main pipe toward Zurg's tower. When he ran out of air, he clicked his helmet open and kept walking.

Description
Chapter Seven: A Bright Side

Ty didn't know what he would do once he caught up with Buzz, but he figured he would figure it out when he got there. There must be some way to convince Buzz he was leading his team in completely the wrong direction. If only he had been able to show them the video first! Not that it would have helped, Ty reminded himself sourly. It certainly hadn't gone over well with the commander and the rest of Star Command.

Why wouldn't they take something like this serious? Attacking Zurg when he hadn't done anything to deserve it could cause big problems for them, not only obvious-danger-wise, but also legally. Ty didn't know how savvy Zurg was with laws in the Galactic Alliance (not that Planet Z was part of such an alliance), but he could potentially destroy Star Command if he pulled the right strings. Ty knew that. He knew all about liabilities since the wirewolf thing—

Why did everything lead back to that?

Ty focused on steering the star cruiser towards Planet Z. The star cruiser had been easy to steal, since all of Star Command had been on the command deck still listening to Commander Nebula's faulty instruction. No doubt they knew by now that he had taken a ship: he didn't look forward to the consequences for that.
However, Ty hoped his being right would count for something. He knew he was right…well, he was pretty sure he was. Sure enough to be concerned and stop Buzz's invasion of Planet Z.

Maybe Buzz would listen, Ty thought. He flipped on the radio screen and called 42. A soothing screen with the Star Command logo greeted him and asked him to leave a message. Ty turned it off and urged the ship to go faster than it could.

Buzz had no way to know it was Ty calling him, so why wouldn't he answer? The team must have already landed and exited the ship.

"Buzz, you idiot," Ty breathed, checking the navagation screen on the dashboard, watching the small green triangle slowly approach the large red dot.

Ty circled the planet briefly, looking for star cruiser 42. He found it docked between two buildings in a seemingly abandoned section a mile or so from Zurg's main tower. Ty landed his own ship beside it and after changing into a new suit, climbed down the ladder and dropped onto the red muddy soil.

He ran to 42 first, hoping they were still in there and hadn't done anything destructive yet, but when he climbed into the dark cab, the lights flicking on when they sensed his presence, he knew they were already on their way to Zurg.

Ty climbed back down the ladder, heart pumping hard as he tried to figure out what to do next. He could call Buzz. Hopefully the protégé wasn't in a situation that the receiving beep on the other end would give him away. Ty opened the communicator and held it to his mouth as he eased himself down the ladder.

"Buzz, come in," he said, but the connection was faulty. Ty's heart beat faster. It couldn't be happening again. "Answer, will you!" he said louder, clanging the communicator against the ladder to loosen whatever dust or faulty wiring causing the static. "Abort mission!"

Laser fire ricochetted off the rung above his head, leaving a black streak across the top of his helmet. Ty looked below and sure enough, hornets gathered, blocking his descent. Ty looped his arm through one of the rungs and pressed his hand on his wrist laser.
But it didn't shoot. Ty cursed and hit it harder. "Go to Pluto, you Helio-forsaken bucket of—" SCRRRACK. Ty ducked another bolt and scrambled up the ladder, only to dodge a hornet whipping past him from above.

There were two of them—now three, hovering above him and a whole mess of them below. And because of probability, he didn't think the wings on his suit would work. They were at a standstill, Ty hugging the rungs of the ladder, the hornets hovering around him.
The hair on the back of his neck was on end. The air was different, electrified, and it sent a chill through him, and dried his mouth. Ty swallowed, suddenly thirsty and then realized what it was. Or at least what he thought it probably was.

Ty reached towards one of his gloves but then hesitated. He didn't want to test his theory. If he was proved wrong, he'd be blasted. But if he was right…oh, if he was right...

He grabbed the thick gloved fingers and pulled, exposing his bare hand. From the corner of his eye, he calculated the distance between himself and the nearest hornet. Arm's length, he thought. Careful not to encourage the hornets to shoot him, Ty moved closer.

If he failed…

Ty lunged forward and grabbed the hornet's slender neck with his bare hand. The hornet was stunned and did not fight. Staring sternly into the hornet's triangular eyes, Ty inhaled as deeply as he could. Blue electricity snaked up his arm, occasionally snapping outside his skin, flashing between him and and his prey. He watched the hornet's eye-lights dim until they were gone altogether.

When the hunk of metal and circuitry tugged his arm downward, he let go and let gravity take the hornet to the ground with a boom and a puff of red dust, taking out a few standing below. The hornets stared at their defeated peer for a couple seconds and then, as one, turned their heads towards him.

There was no way he could shut all of them off. His wrist laser didn't work, and he couldn't climb fast enough to get into the cockpit without getting shot. He was done for.

"Blast," he muttered to himself, squeezing the rung in his armpit.

As he surveyed what he was sure would be his last sight, Ty noticed that they no longer had their guns trained on him. That was beyond odd. Ty looked up to the hornets hovering around him. They were troublingly docile. Well, not troublingly, Ty reasoned. Docile is good. Docile is very good when it comes to lethal war machines, no matter how strange.

"Uh…" Ty repositioned his boots on the ladder and stood carefully from his crouch. "Go away…?"

One by one, they disappeared into the maze of buildings. In a matter of minutes, it was just him, 42, and the drained hornet. Ty climbed slowly down the ladder and stood over the drained hornet, knees knocking.

The more he tried to break away from Nos-4-A2, the more he seemed to become him. Now he could control hornets? Despite himself, a smile pulled one side of his face. He didn't even have to bite them. He just…persuaded…them to leave.

Though it was creepy and Ty didn't forsee much hope of ever undoing this – or many nights without nightmares – he had to admit that this new power was very good for the situation he and Buzz's team found themselves in.

He had become the invisible man: untouchable and unstoppable. Ty thought about this as he followed a main pipe toward Zurg's tower. When he ran out of air, he clicked his helmet open and kept walking.