|
Post by Blacksteel on Apr 11, 2010 5:10:41 GMT -5
Liz’s lips twisted. “Old wounds never fully heal,” she reflected, lacing her fingers together.
With time, she had found that remembering her family wasn’t as painful as those first few years, while she was being raised by the BPRD, but that didn’t mean that the memories didn’t hurt. You’re never fully whole again once you’ve experienced the loss of your loved ones...
But at least Buzz’s loss did not have death as an obstacle. To hear him speak of his old friend returning again was encouraging as well as comforting. Humour was always welcome in any bleak setting.
But the mention of Zurg’s name again caused a ripple of anger to course through Liz’s serene demeanour. She had to clench her teeth together to keep her temper in check. “What about Zurg?” she ground out, probably sounding gruffer than she’d intended.
|
|
|
Post by Skyfire on Apr 12, 2010 6:47:44 GMT -5
Buzz’s eyebrows lifted. “Well, first of all, you can’t kill him. If it came down to that, it’d probably my job, so…” He trailed off when he caught Erin’s skeptical look. “I’m kidding.” He cleared his throat. “Really, we, ah… don’t know all that much about Zurg’s past –”
“More like, nothing at all?” Erin cut in.
“– but he is the sworn enemy of the Galactic Alliance, and a self-proclaimed Evil Emperor,” Buzz continued. “If you really want to call the small conglomeration of worlds he owns an ‘empire’ – it’s more like… a business empire, if you will, though he’s still out to conquer the whole galaxy.”
“Wonder what he’d do with it?” Erin mused quietly.
“His homeplanet is just called ‘Planet Z’ – if there’s any other name for it, I sure don’t know it. Desert world – looks kinda like Mars. I think there’s only one point of civilization on the whole planet, which is the large city-ish compound surrounding the Zurg Tower, his ‘palace.’”
“Buzz, get to the juicy part!” Erin urged.
“I’m getting there, I’m getting there!” Buzz sighed. “His ‘people’ are made up of a race of small insectoid beings called ‘Grubs’ – I know, it’s weird – a group of cyborg-like beings called ‘brainpods’ – which are literally brains in jars attached to robotic bodies – and all the robots he has around the place.” He paused, then shook his head. This was so weird… “Different… occurrences… have led me to believe that Zurg is an alien of his own right – that is to say, the way he looks is the way his race really is. The problem is this: we’ve never seen any other member of his race. It’s like… it’s like they’re just not there.” He could be the last… The ramifications were… staggering, not to mention the fact that the idea itself was just plain disturbing. How was it even possible for an entire race to die out? …Then again, there were always the Belator and the Kronosian.
Why did life have to be so blasted difficult?
|
|
|
Post by Blacksteel on Apr 13, 2010 5:48:56 GMT -5
“Then why haven’t you done away with him already?” Liz demanded. “He’s a threat—neutralize him!”
She couldn’t believe how they could leave “Public Enemy Number One” to go unpunished like this when they knew where his base of operations was! Why hadn’t he been bested already!? Arrested!? What kind of proper military/police force were they if Zurg was still on the loose!?
This was way out of her league. Ask her how to take down a vampire and she’d come up with at least two dozen methods on the spot—but this? Empires and politics and brains-in-jars that reminded her of the retro style of the 1920s? And nobody who could take the enemy down!? Preposterous!
She was so caught up with the incredulity of the entire matter that Buzz’s last sentence nearly slipped under her raider. “All right, so he’s an alien,” she conceded, crossing her arms over her chest. “Maybe even an endangered species if you haven’t encountered more of his kind.
“That still doesn’t explain why he’s still free and probably gloating while sipping a martini or something on that planet of his,” she griped. “Why hasn’t anyone done anything about him!?”
|
|
|
Post by Skyfire on Apr 13, 2010 7:01:35 GMT -5
Buzz’s face darkened, and he brought his hand down on the table in a hard SLAP. Erin jumped. “You don’t know what you’re talking about, Liz,” he told her, anger coloring his voice. “You think I like the fact that my greatest enemy always gets away, that I can never fully defeat him??”
Palms on the table, he leaned forward, looking Liz in the eye, his own eyes flashing blue fire. “Liz, I don’t know how many times I’ve tried to arrest the Evil Emperor, and he’s gotten away. The man’s slipperier than a Bathysosian eel. And we did once seriously attempt to bring down his empire permanently by striking at Planet Z – it almost ended in disaster.
“And, unfortunately, there’s a little thing called politics. Star Command answers to the Senate. While they pretty much let us do whatever we want, they laid down the law in one crucial area: We cannot initiate a true war against Zurg, which is what it would really take to bring him down.
“Zurg is a threat, yes, but people don’t often get hurt, and almost never killed. And on the other hand, if we start a war, people will die.” Buzz straightened. “I don’t like it – I hate it – but I understand their reasoning. Don’t be so quick to judge.”
|
|
|
Post by Blacksteel on Apr 13, 2010 7:17:29 GMT -5
Somehow or other everything went back to politics, and Liz absolutely despised the fact. And it was chafing her hide how Buzz was acting like Manning now, trying to exercise caution—but that didn’t go anywhere! What were they all waiting for? Seriously! For Zurg to make the first move? For him to die of old age or find a new hobby? This was reality for crying out loud, not some Saturday morning cartoon show!
Liz’s expression was set, her hardened eyes narrowed to tiny slits. Daimio had also employed this tactic of often whenever she didn’t agree with his plans and she never backed down without a fight. She placed her own palms on the table and stared back at Buzz defiantly.
“Then don’t start a war. Use an infiltration team. Get in, kill him, and get out with no one being the wiser.” She recalled what had happened in the third video and decided to remind him about it. “Your team got in easy enough, only you were asking for trouble when you actually confronted him. If you can get past his defences that easily, killing him should be a simple thing if you catch him off his guard.”
|
|
|
Post by Skyfire on Apr 13, 2010 15:45:51 GMT -5
Chin resting on her palm, Erin watched the spat with interest, eyes flicking back and forth between her older companions.
Buzz folded his arms, the thundercloud not leaving his expression. “I don’t think that we got in on our own merit, Liz. It was too easy. And it’s not the first time Zurg has let us into the tower, just to trap us in the end.”
Then it was as if Liz’s suggestion finally caught up with his brain, and he froze. His face twisted briefly, and he turned away, right hand clutching the back of his chair. His knuckles were white. “Get in, kill him…” Liz, you have no idea what you’re asking.
He remembered his drive for vengeance, his… want… for Zurg’s blood. He never wanted to feel that way again – he remembered waking up the next day and feeling so… tainted. It had scared him – still did. And it wasn’t long before he’d come to a startling realization.
Zurg was his greatest enemy.
Zurg was also his… friend was too strong a word. Comrade, maybe?
All he knew was that he could no longer ignore the fact that Zurg knew him just about as well as any of his closest friends did, and had been a huge part of his life for as long or longer.
Counterparts.
That was it.
“You crazy? Imagine my life after your passing!” …Buzz knew that it would be hard for either of them to exist without the other.
“Liz, I…” he began, then cut himself off. He released his grip on the chair and turned to face her once more, his expression almost pleading. “I don’t expect you to understand this – craters, I’m not sure I fully understand it myself – but… I can’t do that. I can’t kill Zurg. And I know that I’m the only person who stands a chance.
“It’s not ethics – craters, I’ve killed before in certain operations – but it’s… it’s complicated. I have spent the past twenty-one years – my entire adult life – fighting the Evil Emperor. And he’s spent as much time trying to get at me, cursing me every chance he gets… As crazy as it sounds, we know each other, like two best friends know each other.”
“It’s a love-hate relationship in the extreme,” Erin smirked gently, quietly reentering the conversation.
“Very funny, Erin.” Buzz ran both hands through his hair and sighed. “It’s just… for me, it’d be like killing family. I can arrest him, I can stun him, I can beat him up if I’m able to… but I can’t kill him.” Talk about a messed-up situation – messed-up life, for that matter.
|
|
|
Post by Blacksteel on Apr 14, 2010 5:06:47 GMT -5
Liz crossed her arms over her chest, gnashing her teeth together. This situation was getting utterly ridiculous. The future was mired with conspiracies and illogical restrictions that she just couldn’t fathom. She didn’t like politics—outright hated dealing with them—but even a simpleton could see that something was dreadfully wrong here. It was like trying to solve a gigantic jigsaw puzzle and finally reaching to the end with two pieces that just didn’t match. It just didn’t make sense.
You don’t let a threat fester until it becomes too strong to handle. Why didn’t the Senate, or whatever their government is called, deal with Zurg when he was still powerless? All right forget the government. They were probably too cautious to even tie their own shoelaces. But if this has been going on for twenty years—the sheer notion made Liz’s mind reel—why hadn’t Zurg initiated a war if he’s so eager to conquer the galaxy?
It just didn’t add up.
She exhaled loudly, shifting her gaze back to Buzz. “He’s a constant for you, isn’t he?” she said flatly after he had confessed how he felt on the matter. “Someone who’s always gonna be there, no matter what.”
She uncrossed her arms and leaned forwards. “I know what your problem is. You’re afraid of change,” she accused. “You’re just too comfortable with how things are to actually do something about it. You say you’ve killed but you can’t kill him because—he completes you or something?”
She suddenly slapped the table—“Bullshit!”—and stood to her feet, her palms pressing into the edge. “This is why he’s still around! Because all this time no one’s had the guts to take him down when they had the chance! And now that he’s too powerful and starting a war with him would be catastrophic, you’re still not going to do anything about it? What’re you waiting for? The Apocalypse!?”
She froze then, her mind finally catching up with her words. The phrase had been impulsive, her mouth spewing out things that she hadn’t fully processed, the last words a common-enough expression usually tacked at the end of a sentence. An unpleasant churning sensation in the pit of her stomach suddenly replaced the burning anger from before as she slowly sank back into her seat.
“I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “Forget I said anything. My temper sometimes gets the best of me.”
|
|
|
Post by Skyfire on Apr 14, 2010 6:50:37 GMT -5
Buzz said nothing throughout the entire storm, stance erect and tense, fists clenched. Erin could see the flashes of pain and anger, though. When Liz finally stood down, Buzz took a slightly shaky breath. “I’m used to temper tantrums,” he said quietly. His mouth worked for a moment longer, but nothing came out. He merely shook his head and strode silently out of the room.
All of a sudden, he needed a little time and space to himself.
Erin slumped in her chair and blew at her hair. “Well… I think that went about as well as could be expected,” she commented to no one in particular as she toyed with her coffee cup.
|
|
|
Post by Blacksteel on Apr 14, 2010 7:05:49 GMT -5
Guilt churned in Liz’s gut. She had only been here for—what, an hour?—and she’d already made a mess of things. How could she even begin to comprehend what these people were going through? What Buzz was going through? Change was never something humans coped with well—she knew that first-hand. Having stability was crucial to know where you stood in life.
“I’m sorry,” Liz apologised, not looking at Erin as she rubbed the back of her neck. “I... I overreacted.”
|
|
|
Post by Skyfire on Apr 14, 2010 13:38:50 GMT -5
Erin sighed. “Understandable,” she told Liz. “I said similar things when I was brand-new here. It’s not the same… it’s not we’re used to. War… war changes, from era to era. The kind of wars people were fighting in our time were not the same kind of wars that were fought in the previous centuries, or the Middle Ages, or the ancient times. War’s changed again…” She faltered, still toying with her cup. “I’m not saying it’s good or bad. It just… is.” She shrugged. “With… with the wedding fiasco,” she continued slowly, “things suddenly got dangerous, and Buzz didn’t know how to cope. He got mad and lashed out ‘cause he wanted revenge, and he paid for it. He’s been working all his life to bring down Zurg, but, Liz, he’s not used to the kind of serious life-or-death circumstances we would take for granted in our time. “I know that when he was younger, he would ask Commander Nebula to make a decisive strike against Zurg – even went before the Senate several times. Every time, his propositions were shot down, and after a few years, he had to give it up. Nobody was listening. And over time, he did settle into a kind of routine with Zurg, and somewhere along the line, they became obsessed with bringing each other down and they never actually make it.” She shook her head. “And as far as Zurg getting more powerful goes… well, as far as we can tell, he’s only as powerful now as he was when Buzz was a kid. Zurg’s been a problem child for as long as Buzz and Warp have been alive – longer even, if I remember my history correctly.” She shrugged. “Don’t ask me why Zurg has only made a handful of serious attempts to conquer the galaxy – man’s an enigma. Buzz and Warp are the only two people in the galaxy who have a hope of understanding him.” She hesitated, then added, “Well, probably Hellboy, too, now. Zurg makes a lot of… what we cadets call ‘minor attempts’ to conquer people, like…” She trailed off with a laugh. “Never mind – you would never believe some of the stuff he’s tried to pull. “Anyway, you’re just lucky Buzz didn’t shout back,” Erin confided with a smirk. “He can get veeery touchy sometimes, and if he was operating on peak efficiency, he woulda railed right back at you. But he didn’t even sleep last night because we were up all night waiting for our science team to bring you through, and then there’s all the things that have been happening lately. Not just Zurg and Hellboy and trying to bring you to this time, but also…” She hesitated, then shrugged again, one-shouldered. “Well, you would have found out sooner or later, anyway. Mira, the blue-skinned girl? She and Buzz are getting married.” Erin snorted a laugh, a decidedly mischievous grin forming. “’Bout time, too. Anyway, you and Hellboy aren’t the only recent time-travelers – there’s one more. Cora. She’s sixteen – nice kid, if a bit, um… a bit of a pain, sometimes. Turns out she’s from the future.” Erin dove into a suitcase leaning against the table and drew out a photo album, flipping through it. She pulled out a photo and handed it to Liz. The girl in the photo had pale cyan skin, short red hair, and familiar blue eyes. “Who does that look like to you?” Erin grinned. *** Buzz’s feet took him the main corridors of Star Command, alive now with Rangers milling around before going to their Star Cruisers. “You’re afraid of change. You’re just too comfortable with how things are to actually do something about it.” He took a deep breath, let it out slowly. Was Liz right? Was he wrong to shy away from a black op? But would it somehow be wrong to kill Zurg? The idea itself felt like betrayal. Sighing, he slumped against the wall, massaging his temples. He needed sleep. He could take on the whole blasted universe just so long as he got eight good hours – eight good hours that he had not had last night. ((Okay, KJ and Cherry! Here’s where you guys can come in – as Team Lightyear getting ready to go out on Friday patrol! IMPORTANT TO NOTE: All of Team Lightyear knows about Liz, and Cora, for that matter. And not only is Buzz NOT wearing his hood, he’s also in dress uniform (described on pg. 1). Okey-doke? Good! Hope to see you here soon! ))
|
|
|
Post by cherryproductions on Apr 14, 2010 16:44:21 GMT -5
Mira wasn't planning on being fifteen minutes early, but Cora insisted that she'd be there in time to see the knew time-traveler.
Recently they've been getting a lot of those. She wondered who was going to be next before she decided to bite her tongue. Having a time traveler as her future daughter was good enough for her right now. Anymore can wait for another few years or so.
Come to think, where was Cora? From what Commander Nebula said she was allowed to stay in one of the spare staff rooms for till the figured out a stable place for her for the time being.
She frantically called her at five in the morning--how she got her number Mira would never know--to meet her at the docking bay about quarter to eight. It was now 7:46, and no Cora.
Mira sighed, hoping this wasn't a recurring event in the future. Especially with a wide-awake teenage girl that woke at the break of dawn every morning. Maybe she gets that from Buzz, he's always up early.
Speaking of which there he was right now, looking like he had a rough night. No. He did have a rough night.
"Looks like you can use a cup of coffee." She said, coming to stand by him. "Morning. How's the newbie time-traveler?"
|
|
|
Post by Skyfire on Apr 15, 2010 6:20:59 GMT -5
((‘Tis actually closer to eight…))
Buzz heard a familiar set of footsteps and looked up to see Mira approaching. At her greeting, he nodded, “G’morning. And no thanks, I’ve probably had more coffee in the past twelve hours than is good for me.” He gave her a wan smile. “Said newbie time-traveler is quite the tough cookie. Let’s just say that if she can give Hellboy the dressing-down she gave me, we’ll be okay.”
|
|
|
Post by cherryproductions on Apr 15, 2010 15:57:05 GMT -5
((Already fixed ;D))
"Hopefully that's all it takes to take down Hellboy. What did she say? It takes a lot to talk-down to you and make it stick."
She leaned against the wall with him, feeling the effects of being up early. Usually by now she'd be leaving her apartment for the bus, not standing here chit-chatting with her Captain.
But as she learned quite recently, things change. But hopefully not her sleeping habits.
|
|
|
Post by Skyfire on Apr 15, 2010 18:17:28 GMT -5
((Okie-dokie! ;D))
Buzz smirked ruefully. “Could just be that I didn’t get any sleep last night.” He shook his head, the smirk fading. “She, uh…” He looked away. “She got mad at the fact that we haven’t brought Zurg down long before now, or killed him.” He paused.
“I told her that I want nothing more to bring down Zurg, but I… I can’t kill him. I mean, it’d be like… almost like killing a friend. I know – I know it sounds crazy, but it’s just… Zurg and I know each other that well, for that long, you know?” He sighed. “So she basically accused me and Star Command of being too apathetic, too unwilling to take risks…” His voice trailed off a final time. Liz’s accusations were still ringing in his mind, and they bothered him.
He finally turned back to Mira. “Do you think that’s wrong? My not wanting to kill Zurg because we’re… I don’t know.”
|
|
|
Post by Warp Darkmatter on Apr 15, 2010 18:27:06 GMT -5
He could feel the exhaustion. It seemed to be plastered all over his features. It was the exhaustion that come having only four hours of sleep and too much coffee, too early in the day. But that wasn't anything a light smirk and a small spring his step couldn't cover up.
Warp quickly made his way to the room where he knew Erin and Buzz had been working on the MTR the night before, coffee in hand. He couldn't help but wonder if they had actually gotten the thing to work.
Oh, so it did work! All right! The question received an immediate answer as Warp stepped through the airlock.
"Good morning, ladies! I trust you both hand a good night's rest." He greeted the two women as he stepped over to Erin. Of course he knew that neither of them had slept, judging by the looks on their faces.
"Hi, honey." He gave Erin a peck on the cheek before setting his coffee next to the laptop and scanning the room out of habit.
|
|