Darkness Lives
Chapter One: Cryogenic Visions
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Power Rangers in Space, and I'm not making any money from this fic
Summary: While he's frozen, Zhane's spirit detaches itself from his body and enters a haunted house on Earth, where he has to fight for higher stakes than his life
Warning(s): Violence; spoilers; some swearing; spanking in later chapters
Zhane didn't know how long it was before he finally found himself becoming aware of the fact that he still lived. For a while, he'd thought that he was dead – but despite the vague sense of unreality, he should be so lucky.
The silver ranger was standing next to the cryogenic chamber. He had the vague memory of Andros dragging him into it after the major battle and he'd been injured, but he couldn't remember anything after that. A part of Zhane really wanted to look into the chamber; but he figured he didn't need to check. If he was actually awake, he would have remembered waking up. More to the point, Andros – if he still lived – would be there with him.
Zhane pinched his upper arm hard, and grunted at the sharp pain. He couldn't be having a normal dream. If he was, he wouldn't have felt it when he'd pinched himself. Had his spirit left his body somehow?
Astral projection... It was something that Zhane had heard of before, but never experienced. Like his best friend, Zhane had some minor telekinetic abilities; but this was so far beyond what any of them had experienced.
It took Zhane a few tries, but he finally worked out how to move his feet in this form. He left the cryogenic chamber, and made his way to the bridge. Not finding Andros there, he continued on to the battle simulator – and stopped when he saw the red ranger battling fiercely against a large group of monsters.
Man... Zhane had always thought he was the one who took the battle simulations too far. It seemed that Andros was badly affected by what had happened; and that came close to scaring Zhane. Andros was always supposed to be the calm, logical one. He shouldn't be losing control like this, even in a battle simulation.
Reaching out, Zhane really wanted to bang on the door and make Andros see him. He wanted his friend to realise that Zhane was still alive, and to stop blaming himself like the silver ranger knew he was doing. But just as his fist would have met the door, the interior of the megaship rippled.
Slowly, Zhane lowered his hand. He looked around, frowning, as he struggled to make sense of what was going on.
It happened again. Zhane felt suddenly dizzy and nauseas, as if the prolonged absence of his spirit from his body was affecting him badly. He stumbled, and fell to his knees, as his legs refused to support him any longer. All around him, the ship was spinning; and every time Zhane looked up, he seemed to see the ruins of an old house fighting to occupy the same space as the astro megaship.
Finally unable to hold on any longer, Zhane fell unconscious.