Darkness Within
The Nightmare
He felt as though he was being suffocated; drowning in the sea of faces and accusations, stifled by the oppressive attitudes, clawing and grasping, and trying to gasp in air. He couldn't get it in, though. He couldn't breath, and he couldn't get away.
The thought of great pain had always held more fear from Tommy than death itself. Death was nothing to fear, but the pain that came before it was a terrible thing. A death in the night, all alone, at the hands of the enemy was a nightmare that had haunted him for years. It was the horror of it, the fear before his body was torn, and the knowledge that there was no escape that had filled his adolescent dreams and woken him gasping in the middle of the night.
And the thought of torture, the fear of breaking under the strain and telling all he knew, of giving in, had always frightened him, made him wonder if he would be strong enough to die rather than betray everything he had ever loved.
He held on as long as he could, looking up at the creature above him with eyes full of rage. He could scarcely distinguish the monster, his sight having become nothing but a colorful haze. Yet what he did see had his mind reeling. His memories ran backwards, perhaps it was his life playing before his eyes, or maybe it was just his last thoughts.
Whatever it was, he found himself remembering it all. Thrown to his knees, hands behind his back as his captor prepared him for death; strapped down to a bitter, metal table, barely conscious and frail from battle; fighting hand-to-hand combat with Zeltrax, as in the sky, a Megazord battled breathlessly; contacting his Rangers; watching in horror as Mesogog attacked the city; and before all that, thinking the worse part of his day was having to fail one of his students.
The events continued to run backwards, all the way towards his memories as a Ranger before all of this. His different colors, his different teammates, and the different occasions his mind was possessed by evil.
And then it stopped.
Whatever happened from there was no longer a memory of his own. Tommy Oliver had left the body trembling in pain, broken on the floor. A tidal wave of energy was the last thing he had felt, a rush that he had experienced so many times before. The darkness, the evil and the hate flooded his veins like a shot of heroin, a drug he was almost sickened to feel relief by.
The feeling was familiar, it was a part of him - no, another part of him. It wasn't the man that taught education, or practiced marital arts. It was a hidden essence within him, a cancer buried away for so many years finally released.
A servant, a woman standing away from the scene, stared at the fallen human with eyes of confusion. "My master…" she said ever so softly, her attention never drifting from the figure.
"Quiet," a man of armor stepped forward with wrath, "before I have your head!" His sword pressed tightly against her neck, his position close to putting her in a headlock.
She never glimpsed at him though, she wasn't even startled by the action taken. Elsa was nearly hypnotized by the event taking place and the powerful rays blasting out of the beast's mind.
"My master!" She was thrown to the ground, the sword tighter against her neck because of her eruption. Zeltrax stood over her with his weapon in hand, protecting his Lord from any disruptions as he had promised.
It was too late, unfortunately. Mesogog snapped his head behind him, his eyes burning with immorality as he hissed the sound of a dragon. While the charge of power had stopped flowing from his mind, he was ready to face his servant and send her to her own death.
Yet he never got a chance to even consider the thought.
His claw was snatched in a tight grip, causing him to twist around and see the source. For a man of high power, an evil that had many bow down before him, fear at the sight below fled through his body.
There the human kneeled, his hand clutching the mutant's wrist whilst he stared up at him, his eyes glowing an eerie red.
"Who…." Mesogog hissed, "Are you?"
Ever so slowly, his eyes returned to a soft, chocolate brown, but his appearance seemed to drastically change despite it. He detained a white complexture, shinning lightly with sweat as the dark, black bags under his eyes stood out like a sore thumb.
He was a completely different being than what first entered the lair, an extreme transformation that had every villain in the room frightened of.
"Who am I?" A chuckle slipped through his lips, dripping with the sound of vanity.
No one could react to what happened next, not even the mighty Zeltrax. In a blink of an eye, Tommy jerked Mesogog's body down to the floor with the simple strength of his hand. Once there, his leg stood with force on his back and his hands gripped the neck of the creature.
His breath was right on his scales, whispering softly into Mesogog's ear. "I'm your worst nightmare."
Two seconds. It was all he needed to gather his might and twist the neck of the creature. The result was a cringing crack that echoed the walls.
He laughed.
The room had filled itself with clatter of static, falling plasterboard, and no matter where you walked, some mound of flames or sparks would be in your sight. To say the Dino Lair was trashed would be putting it lightly.
Conner, Ethan and Kira couldn't find the will to breathe at the sight. Jaws were dropped to the floor, and hands either gripping their chest or covering their mouths in utter disbelief. They had walked slowly, taking each step with ease and looking around them as if the place was new to them again.
"So much for making your music video down here, Kira…" Ethan's mutter went unnoticed, his voice brushed away with the wind.
Conner stumbled through a newly formed doorway, what once he could only assume was a wall. His hands wanted to brush against all he passed by, to feel the texture of destruction on his skin and make sure this was realism. But the fear settled in his stomach had him nearly paralyzed
He took an unsteady breath in, "Dude…what the hell went on down he-?"
"Conner!" Kira's shriek wasn't at Petra-intensity, but still managed to stun Ethan and Conner into running to her side.
She had wandered off into the base of the lair, where the computer consoles and testing areas once were. Now everything lay shattered on the ground, and she stood alone, hands over mouth and tears flowing down her cheeks.
Ethan had turned away the very second he saw what Kira had screamed for, his throat gagging with impending vomit. Even Conner sensed he was about to be sick at the sight.
A lifeless body rested sprawled over a computer chair, red-hair tangled over her face and vacant eyes staring at nothing. Her arms, dangling limply to the floor, revealed her palms to be severely burnt and bleeding profusely.
"Oh shi-"
"Surprise."
The three Rangers whipped their heads around at the voice, the recognizable, once congenial voice.
At first they believed eyes couldn't be trusted, that it was a trick being played on them, or they were in some alternate dimension of horror. Standing in front of them, dressed in every-day black, was their mentor, their friend, their teammate.
Only it wasn't. His eyes burned ardently with evil, his stance, the mere vibe he fabricated, said nothing of Dr. Oliver. His physical appearance was nothing short of sickening, with what was once lightly toasted tan skin turned ghostly pale.
Their first thought was possession. They knew he went missing a day ago; it wasn't him in front of them, it was a man under someone's control. And hesitatingly, they formed a defensive stance.
"Who are you, and what have you done with Dr. Oliver?" Conner had demeaned, doing all he could to stand strong and not show the weakness in his voice.
The three shyly took a step away when the man walked forward, hands still behind his back in what could be called a civil manner. They watched as his eyes skimmed them all, as if he was aiming to get a decent look at them for judgment.
But it wasn't about them as a group. Despite his first impression, Tommy walked towards Conner, finding himself breaking any personal space the teen had by standing inches apart from his face.
His arms came forward, and gently he grazed the skin of the boy's cheek. "You're so naïve…" His fingers trailed down his neck, the sensation of his clean shave sending shivers down his back.
But then he reached his chest, where in one quick reflex, his hand formed a fist and knocked Conner right in the ribs.
The Ranger fell backwards, coughing hard and gasping for air at the sudden blow. He had Ethan by his side, clutching his arm as a way of asking 'are you okay?'
Conner didn't pay attention to his presence though; he had his sight directed at the man in front of him, his tear-welled eyes full of mistrust.
"Just like the others before you."
The room held silence, or so it seemed with no voice being spoken. Through the Ranger's minds, they could hear and feel their hearts pounding mercilessly in their chest while Tommy walked past them, heading towards the very area they were in shock at before. The simplest of noise had become thunder while the room still held quietness.
They watched with fear as he bent to his knees, brushing away the vibrant red hair on the body's face. "Magnificent woman, was she not?" Tommy looked over at them, almost as if he were expecting them to reply. "She just asked…way too many questions, unfortunately," he sighed, his head bowed to the floor with sorrow that was almost believable.
Almost, of course.
Conner clutched his fist firmly, "You killed her. You killed Hayley!"
He looked up, looking intently into the eyes of his student. The boy always let his emotions get the best of him; he held so much passion and confidence that he had no idea what to do with.
Ever so slowly, Tommy got off his knees and with sincerity, crossed his arms over his chest.
"Yeah…" he admitted with a nod, "looks like I did."
If there was any time the qualities that made him a Ranger showed so brightly, it would have been then. Conner had found himself striding forward with rage, his finger pointing accusingly in the air.
"You may be possessed, brain-washed, hell I don't care if this is really you. No matter what Mesogog has done, you will not succeed with whatever you are planning. Dr. Oliver taught us to allow no evil win against us."
The sound started out as a scoff, barely making its way into the sound barrier. Soon it grew into a light chuckle, the man it belonged to dropping his head to the floor and shaking it ever so calmly.
And then, he laughed manically. A laugh of his voice, the voice that they heard so many times speaking words of encouragement, rang around them dripping with the sounds of evil.
Chills were sent down their spine, Kira had clung to Ethan's arm looking as if she wanted to hide behind him and wish this all away. Slowly, Conner's arm dropped to his side, his fingers unraveling with loss of impulsion.
The cackle had stopped abruptly, and Tommy shot his head up to reveal eyes radiating scarlet red.
"You have…no idea what you are up against."
He watched as they hesitantly stepped forward, arms outward and fists ready for battle. Their fighting stance had no self-assurance behind them whatsoever; he could almost smell their fear.
Tommy grinned wickedly, shrugging his shoulders lightly at the offer for him to win another brawl. He rolled up his sleeves, chuckling in amusement as every so often one of the teens would make a movement of stepping forward, and then moving back again.
No matter how prepared they thought they were for an attack, when Tommy ran forward they lost all poise.
The man first took on Conner, throwing a punch in the gut that easily had him knocked down. The result was Ethan grabbing his arm, a feeble attempt to swing him around into a wall behind them.
Tommy had the upper-hand hover, and reversed roles with his arms gripped around the Ranger's and swinging him to the floor, immediately bending his knee backwards to kick the girl behind him, her endeavor at a sneak-attack failing hideously.
He shook his head with dissatisfaction. "Looks like I didn't teach you all I could have, huh?"
Conner, Ethan and Kira looked up at him from their fallen positions, anger rising by the second. They jumped forward, using all techniques they could think of to break the man at the very slightest.
It was no more than two minutes later that they realized they had no idea how much skill their science teacher truly did have. Countless times they were on the floor with a new injury, weakened at best trying to win against someone who had years of martial art training.
"If any of you are black belts," Ethan grunted, "Now would be a great time to show us."
Kira passed by him, a pipe in hand as she threw her arm back to strike Tommy. He spun around and blocked the hit before it could touch him, and instantly yanked the cylinder out of her grip to then grab her hands tightly.
She was at his will, her wrist being clutched to the point of torture. Kira felt as if her blood veins were going to burst, never did she imagine the man had this much power.
'Or maybe he doesn't. Whatever's doing this to him…whatever is in his mind, it must be giving him the impression that he's stronger than he's ever tried to be.' Kira whimpered, her knees weakening as she watched her body slowly fall to the floor, the more she dropped the taller he became.
Her mouth then dropped open, her body taking the largest inhale possible before she let out a terrifying, ear breaking Petra scream. It had sent Tommy flying backwards and skidding across the ground.
Ethan and Conner watched in horror the consequences of her actions take place. The lair was unstable with no support keeping things up. The ceiling came crumbling down on her body, irony at its best when she didn't scream, instead her cry cut short.
"Kira!" Ethan pulled Conner back, wishing himself to go help their teammate but pointing out that just across from them, Tommy had gotten back up and stumbled towards the pile of cement.
His hand plummeted into the pile, the Ranger's eyes going wide at the sight of such strength. Tommy dug around at first, and then tugged a dusty, frail body into the air.
Kira appeared to be unconscious, her legs and arms limp as her head swayed droopily to the side. He switched his grip from her wrist to her neck, and despite Ethan and Conner's belief that he was choking her; he held her throat with ease.
He brought her body close to him, her face near his. "A little lesson for you, Kira…"
His arm flew around, Kira going along for the ride as he let go of her throat within mid air and watched as she crashed into three wall posts before finally slamming against the stairway.
Ethan and Conner weren't far away; their eyes got a fine glimpse of her corpse pouring blood from her cracked skull onto the stairs from impact.
Tommy wiped his hands clean of dust, "Evil outdoes good. Shooting it only makes it stronger."
The shock was almost enough to give the boys a heart attack. Conner couldn't even keep his composure anymore. He slowly descended to his knees as his eyes burned with tears.
The death in the room was starting to smell clearly, both Hayley and now Kira's body lying motionlessly by the motive of a man they couldn't understand. They would continue the fight, they wouldn't let evil win…
But how did this evil come to be in the first place?
"Dr. O…" Ethan shakily stepped forward, his hands outward in a surrender position. The man held no expression, and Ethan could only assume it was safe to resume.
He kept walking, "Listen…Dr. O, whatever's happened, whatever you're doing…we can stop. You can stop. Let us help you."
The silence had once again returned. But this time, there was truly no noise. The static was distant, and any unstable walls had already fallen. Tommy stood still, his returning brown eyes staring off with confusion.
"Ethan?"
Conner looked up from the ground, stunned.
"Y-yeah…Dr. O, it's me. It's us." Ethan's breath hitched his stomach on a roller coaster of fear and possible hope.
He could sense Conner staring through his back, watching in uncertainty as Tommy gripped his forehead, trying to figure out what was going on.
The Ranger moved forward, cautiously but steadily with an extended arm. He wasn't dense, he knew at best if this was genuine it'd only persist for a few more seconds, if that. But if they could tie him down, get the advantage, they could stop this killing spree before it went any further.
"Ethan…" At first, his head nodded gradually. But his eyes stared straight into Ethan's, and the teenager jumped at the chance to grab his arm, stroking it softly while still having the restraint over him.
Little did he know, losing eye contact with the man was the worse thing he could do. His focus was so attentive to the upper hand, that he failed at discovering it was all a trick.
Tommy's eyes sizzled the red of evil he possessed, and Conner could only watched in horror as the deception played out.
"Dude! It's a tric-"
It was too late. Tommy had Ethan's arm in a strong grip, throwing him onto the ground with a flick of the wrist as he snatched the nearest loose electrical wire near him.
His actions looked as if he were heading for his chest, Conner had even leapt off the floor running to stop the deed. If Tommy had plans for that area, the Ranger could have surely stopped him.
But Conner's arms grabbed thin air near Ethan's stomach when Tommy lunched forward and shoved the sparking cables into his student's mouth.
A gut-wrenching cry abruptly filled the room, and the force sent both Conner and Tommy stumbling backwards, their fingers flickering with left over electricity.
It was nothing compared to Ethan's state, however. His body jolted off the ground continuously, eyes wide open with blood gushing out of his mouth. It wasn't long before it all ceased, and his body lying motionlessly on the ground.
Conner gaped, "What the HELL is wrong with you!?" His scream echoed the lair, his feet lunging forward and tackling Tommy to the ground.
He only got a few punches in before he was pushed off, pinned to the ground by his opponent. Tommy stared at him, his arm hurled backwards in the air with an approaching hit.
Yet, he never made a move. "You could have morphed. You have genetic powers, Conner! What the hell is wrong with me? What's wrong with you! You could have stopped me and saved them."
He stood over the torn, ragged body with rage fuming through his voice. "You're not a leader. You don't even have the right to call yourself a Power Ranger."
Those very words had made Conner snapped; he brought his knees up and kicked Tommy off of him, jumping to his feet immediately and diving towards the man with every muscle in his body. His arms had strong grips on his shoulders, and he shoved him backwards, running absently not knowing when they'd hit a wall.
His anger took the best of him, the vehemence flowing through him causing him to lose his grip on reality. Conner completely neglected the spin he was forced to take, a rotate that Tommy had caused.
It was him who hit the wall with impact, crying out in shock.
The collision had knocked him out for a moment, and Conner's vision took time to return. The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes were a large brown and blue blur. When he could focus his sight again, he clearly saw Tommy before him, sparks and flames in the background.
What he didn't see was the large shard of glass in his attacker's hands.
Tommy's breath hissed ruthlessly on his skin, "How does it feel to die at the hands of your mentor?"
Conner gulped, realizing he was pinned to the wall with no escape. He refused to look the man in the eye, the fright of what he saw taking a hold of him.
"Dr. O isn't killing me…" Conner grunted, "You killed him. Along with all the others."
Tommy growled faintly, pushing the teen harder against the wall.
Conner could feel consciousness slowly leaving him, the trauma to his head sending waves of pains through his skull. He fought through it though, and kept his mind focused on the one thing in front of him.
"You're…nothing but one of them. I die as a Ranger, fighting for what I believe in."
At hearing this, Tommy leaned forward, his lips pressed softly against Conner's ear. He had no reaction to the move, not even the slightest flinch. "Guess what?"
And then it came, the most agony Conner had ever felt in his life. The large, glass shard made one, quick thrust into his stomach, going all the way back until it hit his spine.
"You couldn't be a Ranger even if you wanted to."
There was no support on his body once Tommy stepped away, and Conner dropped to the ground incompetently. His hands clutched tightly against the glass, eyes wide with shock and pain. He couldn't breathe against the fiery anguish, feeling as if the blood was being drained from his body while his lungs were stabbed repetitively.
He didn't watch as Tommy walked away, he could only see his legs move by. There was nothing he could do anymore, the fight was over. And the vicious man himself saw it as well having left the room.
Last Conner saw, Tommy stood at the top of the stairway, staring at the violent masterpiece he had created. Bodies lied scattered on the ground, the floor of what was their safe haven. Blood stained all it touched, surrounded by scorching flames.
He must have closed his eyes for a longer time than he thought, because when he opened them back up, Tommy had a lit match in between his fingers. His sight blurred in and out, he couldn't distinguish what exactly he was doing.
But soon enough, it became clear. Tommy walked away throwing the fire match into the lair. Faintly, so faintly Conner could hear him laughing a cry of victory as he made his way out of the house.
He had two minutes, at the most, before the lair went up in flames. Conner clutched his gut tightly, the glass still impaled in his body when he tried to crawl his way to the staircase.
The Ranger remembered getting a few inches away before darkness consumed his mind, and his body lay limp awaiting a blazing death.
Reality. Tommy shot up in his bed, his mind welcomed back into reality. His lungs gasped for air, acting as though he hadn't breathed during his time of slumber. His face, drenched in sweat, dripping down to his chest held nothing but shock.
He continued to wheeze; he literately couldn't breathe. His legs were tangled in his sheets and in the dark room; he clung for anything real, an object to tell him he was alive.
It was yet another dream.
No,
A nightmare.
To Be Continued