A/N: Sorry, the last time I submitted this I forgot to put in a disclaimer. I don't think I have to do this for every chapter though, right?
Anyway, "Power Rangers" is the property of Disney/BVS Entertainment, and the songs are the property of someone else, possibly Saban and possibly Aaron Waters, and I'm not making any ca$h off this. It's just for fun.
CV
Prologue
"Sweep the perimeter. Allow no one to escape."
It wasn't the worst of times, but it certainly wasn't the best. Drawing a small blaster from its holster, the dark-suited warrior called Phantasm steadied himself and glanced over the edge of the burning rubble behind him. Seven, maybe eight groups of insect foot soldiers crept toward the hiding spot, and would be upon him in a few moments if he didn't think sharp. They were merely grunts, but that number could overwhelm him if he wasn't careful, given that he had no short-range or melee weapons. Transmissions were down, thanks to the jamming booth, so he couldn't count on the communication link or the teleportation link to save him now. If he could only get close enough to find out, even if only for himself, who it was that had thwarted Zordon's sacrifice and avoided the purge…
But unfortunately, all of the two masters that were visible were a pair of velvet cloaks; one gold, the other crimson. It was difficult to determine which had given the order, but it didn't matter now. He had to think fast; his cloaking was useless against the bug fighters, whose infrared vision would allow them to see his shape as he tried to hurry past. While he could attempt to fight them all, he would be at space without shuttles with only a blaster and a couple of grenades. How much damage could he do?
Unless…
The cold metal wouldn't attract the attention of the grunts, but a massive explosion would. Could he take down the whole station with one grenade and then still have enough time to teleport out? It would be his only hope now. Hoping that the "throw-something-one-way-and-run-the-other-way" tactic wasn't common knowledge among insectoid foot soldiers, Phantasm heaved the grenade off to the left, then waited.
BOOM.
The deafening roar nearly overwhelmed him, but he expected it, and thus was easily able to jump to his feet and take off around the right side of the wreckage. He was still several yards away from the entry hatch into the jamming booth, and the two masters were on the bridge. Hopefully they weren't heat-seekers, but as he got closer, the loud clanging of his boots would signal his advent.
"Quickly! Over here, you fools!" the one in gold shrieked, in a decidedly female voice beneath the snarl. From underneath her cloak she brandished a curved scimitar, revealing a glimpse of plated gold armor beyond the velvet in the process. Clearly a warrior, and clearly not someone to mess with. Thus, Phantasm chose the other option. Grasping the back of the other cloak, he yanked as he ran toward the hatch. Another screech sounded from behind him; apparently the other was a human female in a ridiculously impractical leather leotard, a crossbow attached to her forearm. Still invisible, he whisked the cloak around and over the first master.
His diversion had half the desired effect; irate, the first master in gold attempted to shred the offending article of clothing. However, recovering with astounding speed, the other spun around, her bobbed black hair bouncing around her face as she squinted at the seemingly empty air. Nocking a quintuplet of glowing pink arrows cleanly, she fired rapidly into the area that she believed Phantasm to be in.
Unfortunately, more than one met its mark. Three arrows sank beneath the level of his armor, poking him just below the shoulder blades and melting away his camouflage. The wounds were not deep, but still burned as if acid was being poured into the holes. Not stopping to extract them, Phantasm dashed into the hatch. Her cocoa eyes widening, the female archer took to the air, leaping almost the whole way to the hatch.
Phantasm looked back over his shoulder for one moment, and in that moment the slightest glimmer of recognition shot through his head. Where had he fought against this woman before? And…why was she…suddenly…so attractive?
Shaking it off, he pulled the grenade and threw it into the mess of computers. This needed to be done very delicately—if not, he'd be annihilated in the ensuing explosion.
The grenade bounced once, twice, three times. Phantasm's jaw tightened as he watched. The woman in leather threw open the door, then leapt upwards just in time.
The room was consumed in a massive fireball.