Author's note: No, you're not imagining it…this IS actually an update!
I TOLD you guys I'd get more done eventually. And you doubted me. Tsk.
Power Rangers Nexus: Beginnings
Chapter 2: The Map
With all the enthusiasm of a man watching paint dry, the Enforcer laboriously filled out the small slip of paper in his hand and stuck it under the windshield wiper of the car next to him.
City the size of Destiny, you'd think there'd be some actual crime to fight, he mused. But no, I'm stuck filling out parking tickets.
He sighed, resuming his patrol down the dark sidewalk, watching as the shadows his body cast in the glow of the streetlights shifted as he walked. Another victory for justice, he thought flatly.
As he passed by the movie theater, he eyed the large group of people that exited. Kids mostly, but they weren't troublemakers…
Kids? He repeated to himself. Please. Some of those people are older than you. You grew up too fast, OFFICER. You ought to be going to movies and hanging out with friends. Not issuing parking infractions.
As he passed by the crowd, one of the stragglers passed near him. There was a sudden itching sensation, across his scalp and down the back of his neck, and he turned automatically, grabbing her arm just as she was pulling her hand…clutching HIS wallet…from his pocket.
It was a teenaged girl, no older than sixteen, seventeen tops, with long yellow-blonde hair that reached down to her waist, dressed unassumingly in blue jeans and a long-sleeved black shirt. Her ice-blue eyes were wide, not with fear at having been caught, but in simple, utter shock.
"You…you caught me?"
"Damn straight I did," the Enforcer replied, snapping out of his own surprise. He didn't know how he always managed to react to things like that, but it had never let him down, one of the main reasons he'd made it through the Academy so quickly. He pulled out his handcuffs and slapped them onto the girl's wrists.
"You're under arrest…," he began….but then the sensation started again.
Instinctively, he grabbed the girl and leapt aside, just as a massive figure dropped from one of the rooftops above, landing on the exact spot where they'd been standing.
The two of them went sprawling, from the sidewalk into the street, scraping themselves to some extent on the sidewalk.
The Enforcer helped the handcuffed girl to her feet and herded her behind him, then turned towards their assailant, half-expecting to see some drug-crazed bodybuilder, or at worst, something along the lines of an escaped circus gorilla.
What he saw was not a gorilla. It had roughly the same proportions as a gorilla, but its fur and facial features more closely resembled those of a Bengal tiger. The beast drew back its head and let out a savage roar, then began to take a few heavy, lumbering strides towards them.
With a surprisingly steady hand, the Enforcer drew his sidearm and fired four shots, one to the forehead and three to the heart, all of which struck unerringly.
And ineffectively. The…thing…kept on coming. Only now it was annoyed.
Holstering his useless weapon, the Enforcer turned around and grabbed the girl, pulling her along behind him.
"Run!"
His prisoner didn't need to be told twice. She fell into step next to him, their boots striking the asphalt and echoing loudly down the alleys that branched off from the main road.
The beast chased them for a good five minutes before it finally cornered them down an alley.
"Brilliant," his captive said bitterly. "Next time we're running for our lives, I'm planning the escape route."
"I was in a hurry, okay?" the Enforcer snapped. He drew his gun and leveled it at the monster again. It had proven ineffective last time, but it was all he could think of.
"The eye," the girl said.
"What?"
"Shoot it in the eye. Nothing can take a bullet to the eye."
She had a point. Taking aim, he squeezed off a single shot.
There was an explosion of blood from the back of the beast's head. It leaned back with the force of the shot, falling over backwards and landing with a heavy THUD.
It twitched a bit, then fell still…and as soon as it did, its body began to glow, slowly dissolving into a swarm of red-gold sparks that rose up into the air, fading away, leaving nothing behind to suggest that it had ever been but a few pieces of trash that had been squashed when it had fallen on them.
The Enforcer let out a long, shuddering sigh of relief.
"What the hell," he asked rhetorically, "Do I put on the timesheet for this?"
Abruptly remembering his pickpocket, he turned to look behind him.
The alley was deserted, but lying on the ground were his handcuffs, along with a note that had been hastily scribbled on a napkin.
May you always remember this as the day you ALMOST caught the world's greatest pickpocket.
Nice try, though.
-JM
He sighed, crumpling up the napkin and tossing it away.
"Great."
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"What are you doing in here?"
Jareth's deep green eyes didn't even waver towards the speaker…he knew perfectly well what Fox looked like.
"I'm looking at this crystal."
"Yeah, I can see that. I meant, what are you doing in the Crystals and Minerals exhibit when we're supposed to be with the rest of the class, looking at the Assyrus-Ra exhibit."
"I like shiny things better than dead things?" he suggested. "Check this one out."
Fox walked over to stand next to him, leaning down to look at the jewel that had him enthralled.
The shard he was examining was glasslike, smoothly cut along one side and rough on the others, as though a corner and one edge had been splintered off from a larger, glass cube. It was about three inches long, and it was a pale clear-blue, although seen from the right angles, rainbow-patterns refracted within.
"Pretty," Jareth said.
"Yeah, it kinda is," Fox agreed.
"Think it's worth my time to try and steal it?"
"Hey, if you think you can get through the shatterproof glass, be my guest."
"Valentine! Foxtooth!
The two teenagers glanced over to see a severe-looking woman in her mid-forties beckoning to them. "Get in here with the class! I want you two where I can keep an eye on you."
"Coming, Ms. Falstaff!" Jareth replied in a patronizing tone.
"Heh. Gee, you'd think we were troublemakers or something," Fox muttered.
Jareth chuckled. "Is she always like this?" he inquired, falling into step next to her as the two of them began to follow along with the rest of Fox's class, keeping to the rear of the group.
"Always," Fox bemoaned. "And she hates Nocturnes, by the way, so watch your step."
"Really? Why?"
"Something about being lazy, cowardly malcontents who are too obstinate and perverse to join the rest of Diurnal society."
"Oh, of course," Jareth said seriously, nodding.
The conversation was interrupted as a shaggy-haired blonde boy bumped into Jareth, almost knocking him over.
"Watch where you're going!" the stranger snapped, continuing on in the other direction.
Jareth glared at the kahki-clad boy as he walked away. "Asshole," the Gold Ranger muttered.
"Just ignore him," Fox advised, grabbing his arm and pulling into step beside her. "Hey, thanks for coming with me on this stupid trip. I know you'd rather be sleeping…"
Jareth shrugged. He generally attended night school, and was thus never in the same class as either of his friends. "I was never one to miss a field trip," he replied. "I can sleep anytime. But why not ask Dea? Isn't he actually IN this class?"
Fox snorted. "Deacon, in a museum? That'll happen."
"I'm sure you could have found a way to persuade him," the boy replied slyly.
"Well…"
"Oooh, you're turning red. What aren't you telling me, Kim?"
Fox sighed. "The truth is, Deacon…wasn't allowed to come."
"No? Why not?" Jareth asked.
"Well, two days ago, we were…you know…"
"Fornicating like wild spider monkeys?"
Fox raised an eyebrow at her friend. How exactly do wild spider monkeys…? Never mind. "Um, yeah. Sort of."
"And this is unusual, why?"
"Well…we were kinda doing it in the janitor's closet. At school."
"Again, not unusual. That's what that closet's for. There are notches carved on the mop handles."
"Yeah, well…" Fox's gaze fell to her boots. "…wegotcaught." She muttered in a rush.
"'Scuse me?"
"I said we got caught, okay?"
"Oh. Ohhhh…Well. That had to kinda suck."
"Yeah. We both got detention. And since Dea already had two infractions…"
"One for this, one for the time he and I snuck into the locker room and filled the entire football team's cleats with whipped cream…what's the third?"
"The time he rigged up that paint-balloon to hit Heather Davies in the face when she opened her locker."
Jareth chuckled. "Oh, yeah. I remember that one. I showed him how to do that."
Fox nodded. "I kinda figured. That contraption screamed of your handiwork. Anyway, he had three strikes. So no more field trips for the rest of the year."
"You know, if he hadn't used his own textbook, with his name in it, as the counterweight for that paint-balloon launcher…"
"He'd have never been caught? Yeah. But hey, it wasn't like he was ever gonna need it. I mean, it was a Math book."
"Fair point."
Their conversation fell short as Ms. Falstaff gestured for silence, including a harsh glare in their direction. Once satisfied that her class was paying attention, the teacher nodded to the museum tour guide, who began describing the exhibit.
"Assyrus-Ra," the guide said, no doubt trying to sound ominous. The effort was thwarted by his high, bratty-sounding voice. Assorted giggles could be heard throughout the room, but were quickly silenced by a harsh glare from Falstaff.
"The great pharaoh Assyrus-Ra ruled over six thousand years ago, carving an empire from a bleak, barren region barely capable of supporting life. He held power for nearly a century. According to legend, he had nearly godlike powers, which he claimed were given to him by the sun-god Ra."
"Ra, huh?" Jareth murmured, as the guide continued extolling the virtues of Assyrus-Ra's empire. "I bet Hel could take 'im."
"You're on," Fox accepted. "Five bucks on Ra."
The two feel silent again as Falstaff turned her evil eye on them.
"Assyrus-Ra was a cruel tyrant, and his people loathed and feared him. Eventually, his five high priests decided that it was not Ra who had given Assyrus-Ra his power, but some foul, demonic entity. They betrayed and murdered him, ending his hundred-year reign."
"That's a lot of rain," Jareth muttered. "Kinda puts that old Noah's Ark story to shame, huh?"
Fox elbowed him, and he snickered.
"Despised or not, Assyrus-Ra was still a pharaoh, and the High Priests buried him with all due ceremony, except for one small detail. Instead of burying his preserved organs with him, they scattered them among the neighboring tombs, in order to prevent him from ever rising again."
"You'd think just taking them out in the first place would prevent that," Fox suggested.
They stood in relative silence as the guide described the process of mummification to them.
"Ew," Jareth said simply, when he had finished.
"Yeah, I'll take the standard cremation when I go, thanks," Fox agreed.
"And now, if you'll all follow me into the adjoining chamber, we'll have a look at some of Assyrus-Ra's personal possessions, including the great Tablet of Ra."
"Ooh, a really old rock. How thrilling."
"Maybe it'll have pretty pictures on it?" Jareth offered.
The two followed the rest of the group into the next room, which was partitioned off from the main chamber by a thick red curtain. Display cases lined the walls, full of ancient Egyptian artifacts, including gold, jewels, household items, pots, jars, mummified pets, and a pair of large, animal-headed jars.
The guide was gesturing to a golden tablet that hung on the wall. It was heavy-looking, engraved with cryptic symbols, and broken in half, its bottom edge a jagged, rough crack.
"…Or maybe it'll be made of solid gold," Jareth amended, his irises seeming to swirl as he narrowed his eyes at the tablet.
"Maybe," Fox agreed, subdued.
"Behold, the Tablet of Ra. Supposedly given to Assyrus-Ra by the sun god himself. Historians have labored for decades to translate the writing on this slab, but to no avail."
"Probably a recipe for deep-fried locust," Jareth quipped.
"Instructions on how to avoid being mummified," Fox offered.
"Silt-farming tips?"
"Directions to the pyramid's bathrooms?"
"Foxtooth! Valentine!" the teacher hissed.
"Sorry, Ms. Falstaff," they muttered in unison.
"I thought those Eltarian lenses let you read any language?" Fox whispered.
"Yeah, I know. It's weird, but I can't make out what this thing says. There's no translation. I mean, I can decipher a couple words here and there, but most of it seems to be gibberish. Maybe because it's broken and half's missing."
"Pity," the Camo Ranger said. "Might be kinda cool to figure it out when no one else has been able to."
"Hmm."
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
A flicker of milky white light briefly illuminated the museum lobby, then faded.
Golden eyes flicked back and forth, surveying the room, finding nothing of interest. Charcoal-gray robes swished and polished black nails tapped against the hard tile floor as padded paws made their way through the rooms, surveying the objects on display. The end of a ceremonial staff made sharp rapping sound as it struck the tiles, echoing off the walls.
Strange, hairless bipedal creatures infested this place.
Humans, he recalled, his sensitive nose wrinkling in distaste. They're called humans. He paused, eyeing one as he passed. It gawked up at him in slack-jawed awe. Disgusting animals. I can't even tell if it's male or female. Or other. And are they all so short? The height of the doorways implied that they came much taller. This one must have been a juvenile, then. A larva. At least there don't seem to be many here. I'd hate to have to wade my way through an entire swarm of these.
The searcher paused at an oblong, stone box, carved into the vague likeness of one of these 'human' animals. Perhaps what he sought was inside.
At a gesture of his white-furred paw, the glass surrounding the sarcophagus shattered. A further gesture, and the case opened, the lid prying itself from the sarcophagus and falling to the ground with an enormously loud clatter.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"Hey, check these out," Jareth said, drawing his friend's attention to a pair of ceramic jars that stood within a glass display case.
"Canopic jars," Fox read. "These are what they put Mr. Pharaoh's organs in after they removed them."
"Stomach," Jareth observed, checking the placard that identified the jar whose lid resembled a jackal's head. "And…intestines," he added, examining the falcon-headed jar. "Gross. And yet…strangely compelling."
"Which organs do you think the other three contained?"
"Let's ask. Hey, Ms. Falstaff!"
Getting the teacher's attention, Jareth posed their inquiry.
"That's…actually a very good question," the teacher allowed, seeming quite surprised that the two troublemakers had taken enough of an interest in the subject matter to care. She called over the guide and the question was repeated again.
"The other three jars house Assyrus-Ra's liver, lungs, and brain," he replied.
"How come not the heart?" Fox wondered.
"The Egyptians believed that the heart was the seat of the soul," the guide replied. "So it was left in the body while it was mummified."
"Funny. I'd have figured the soul to be in the brain."
"The ancient Egyptians believed that the brain's only purpose was to produce mucous. That's why it was liquefied, drained out through the nose, and thrown away. Assyrus-Ra is the only known mummy to have its brain preserved at all. No one knows why, and we've never found it."
"Then how do you know it was?" Jareth challenged.
"Not all of Assyrus-Ra's records are written in that dialect," the guide replied, gesturing at the tablet. "A number of them are recorded in more conventional languages, which is how we know the story of Assyrus-Ra. Among these are the records of his mummification, which clearly depict five jars, one of which is indicated to house his brain."
"Huh," Jareth said, digesting this information. He turned to Fox. "Now, why do you suppose…"
SMASH!
Thirty-odd heads turned at the sound of glass shattering in the next room. The heavy THUD of sandstone striking tile followed.
The shrill sound of alarms going off suddenly split the air.
"What in the hells?" The Guide demanded.
The group started crowding around the doorway to see what had caused the noise.
"Everyone freeze!" Falstaff commanded.
Thoroughly conditioned to Do As Teacher Says, the class froze.
Her strides swift and sure, the teacher made her way through the room, the crowd parting before her like water before a shark's fin.
Jareth and Fox exchanged a worried glance.
"Back door?" Jareth muttered.
"Back door," Fox agreed.
The two began to quietly inch away from the crowd.
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
The seeker flinched as an earsplitting racket filled the air. He looked around, but was unable to locate the source…it seemed to be coming from the ceiling.
A quick word of prayer, and his sensitive ears were immune. Good. Now for the box.
Nothing inside but a carcass.
These creatures put their dead on display? Revolting! Still…
The dead had their uses.
Lifting his staff, he aimed the Symbol of Bathas that was cast in gold at its tip towards the ancient corpse. Soft white light began to flow like smoke from the symbol, spiraling down to envelope the mummified body.
There was a scream from the doorway. He turned his head sharply. A human stood in the doorway. If her facial expression was any indication, she was terrified.
He narrowed his golden eyes. She was nothing…an insignificant animal. But her screams might draw more humans en masse. In sufficient numbers, these creatures could interfere with his task.
He was still pondering what to do about the creature, when the corpse rose stiffly from his casket.
She screamed again….and passed out.
Well. That simplified things a bit.
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"Zeo Ranger Six – Gold!"
"Zeo Ranger Eleven – Camo!"
Two bright bursts of color lit up the alley behind the museum, the two teenagers transforming into their Ranger forms as they rushed out the back door. A shrill scream split the air, spurring them on. As fast as their enhanced legs could carry them, they rushed around the front and reentered the building through the main doors, rushing through the lobby, down the hall, and into the room that housed the Egyptian exhibit.
Their boots skidded to a halt as they arrived, taking in the scene before them.
Ms. Falstaff lay on the ground, unconscious.
The sarcophagus that housed the Pharaoh's corpse was open, the pharaoh himself sitting up and looking around curiously with his decrepit eye sockets.
And in front of this stood a wolf. A human-sized, white, fluffy wolf, standing on his hind legs, wearing dark charcoal-colored robes and wielding a weird staff topped with some sort of icon, glaring at them with burning gold eyes.
"Woah," Jareth summed up.
"W-what in the name of the gods…," the museum curator stammered, standing in the doorway to the adjoining room that held the Pharaoh's personal items.
The wolflike humanoid turned and regarded the two through narrowed eyes.
"Power Rangers," he growled.
"Get everyone out the back way," Fox suggested to the museum guide.
"Now," Jareth agreed.
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
It's green, Deacon thought to himself, staring down at his lunch tray in disgust. Chicken should not be green.
With a sigh, the Silver Ranger sat back and examined his tray, wondering if any of the items it contained were actually edible. The sounds of standard-issue cafeteria chaos enveloped him, bits and pieces of a dozen conversations jumbled together into an unintelligible haze of noise.
He was sitting alone today. Fox was off on some stupid trip…not that he could blame her for taking any excuse to get out of class…and he hadn't felt like sitting with the skater-punk crowd, so he had opted to find a secluded corner of the cafeteria and eat in relative peace.
Deciding that the pudding cup, being a sealed container, was probably safe, he peeled off the foil, gave the inside a lick, and started to tear the cellophane from the plastic spork he'd been issued.
Beep beep beepbeep BEEP beep.
Deacon jumped, looking around in surprise for the source of the loud, high-pitched six-tone sound. He was surprised to see that no one else seemed to have heard it.
Beep beep beepbeep BEEP beep.
Oh. Right, he thought to himself, remembering. Pushing back his hair, he pressed the spot behind his right ear.
"Rangers," Zord-1's voice rang throughout his head. "Please report to the Oasis."
The link closed. Deacon's eyes scanned the cafeteria, finally falling on the 'Jocks and Cheerleaders' table. One of the football players, a young man dressed in red, caught his gaze and nodded. He leaned forward and said something, probably making some excuse, then stood up and crossed the cafeteria.
Deacon got up from his seat and casually fell into step beside him.
"Ready to save the world?" Deacon asked quietly.
"Always."
Finding a secluded hall, the two checked for inquisitive eyes, and, finding none, pressed down on the chips embedded beneath their skin. In twin flashes of red and silver light, they were gone.
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Angel stood, still and unmoving, in the pond that bordered the clearing in the woods where he made his home, the cold water reaching up to his knees. His hands were just beneath the surface, fingers swaying gently.
In a sudden move that split the surface the water, his hands darted forward, emerging from the cold liquid with a fat, struggling trout held between them.
"So sorry, friend," he told it. "Circle of life. You understand."
Beep beep beepbeep BEEP beep.
Transferring the helpless fish to one hand, the tribal outcast activated his comchip.
"Trouble?" he asked.
"I'm afraid so," Zord-1 replied.
"On my way."
Angel closed the link, then looked at his fish contemplatively.
"Seems it's not your fate to die today, after all. Perhaps tomorrow."
He tossed the fish carelessly over his shoulder, where it fell into the pond and gratefully swam away. Making his way to the shore, he quickly got dressed, pulling on a pair of long, baggy jean shorts and an oversized gray shirt. He didn't bother with shoes… wouldn't have even if he'd owned any.
"I will never get used to this," he declared, triggering his teleport and vanishing in a gray flash of light.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"Nice garden," Kalen commented, striding into one of the lower levels of the Oasis, the doors opening automatically before her.
"Thanks," Terina replied, watering a long, rectangular, waist-high planter filled with yellow-gold flowers. "Shouldn't you be in school? It's the middle of the day."
"I'm taking a mental health day," the Purple Ranger replied, smelling one of the curious flowers.
"Ex-fiance still hounding you to get back together?"
Kalen grimaced. "Unfortunately, the 'mourning the dead family' excuse only buys you time for so long." She shook her head. "I may have to brutally crush the poor boy," she added offhandedly.
"I'm sure you'll find the heart somehow," the diminutive alien replied sardonically.
"What kind of flowers are these?" Kalen inquired.
"Suntigers," Terina replied. "Last ones in the world."
"They came from Eltar? The Oasis has storage pods for seeds?"
"Um…no, actually. When I first came out of stasis, this place was a disaster. Choked with weeds, overgrown, some plants barely alive. I cleaned it up best as I could, but I thought all the suntigers had died out. Then I found one little flower, still growing over in the corner. Tenacious little critter." She smiled sadly. "Kind of like me. Last one of its kind."
"Very metaphorical," Kalen agreed. "Hmm. 'The Last Suntiger'. Almost sounds like a Disn-"
An earsplitting siren sounded, dome-lights popping down from the ceiling and strobing brightly.
"This happen often?" Kalen demanded, hands over her ears.
Terina nodded grimly.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"Rah!" Jareth yelled, rushing forward and leaping foot-first at the wolflike creature.
One white-furred paw shot up, catching the Gold Ranger by the boot, somehow holding him suspended in mid-air.
"Woah!" the Gold Ranger cried as the alien effortlessly flipped him around and seized him by the throat.
"Where is the map?" he demanded.
"What map?" Jareth asked, bewildered.
The grip around his neck tightened. "I will not repeat myself, Ranger."
Jareth held a hand to his ear. "Excuse me?"
"I said, 'I will not'-" The monster stopped mid-sentence, glaring at the smirking Ranger in his grip.
Jareth chuckled.
With a furious growl, he flung the Ranger away like a ragdoll, Jareth's gold-armored body tearing a rough hole through the museum wall. Through the hole came a bright flash of golden light, a sure sign that Jareth's morph had failed.
"Jareth!" Fox drew the Zeo Saber from her hip and snapped it out to its full length, leaping at the wolflike alien, swinging her weapon down in a powerful slice.
There was a loud crash and a shower of strange sparks as her blade-baton struck the monster's staff, which he quickly brought up, holding it horizontally in both furry white hands.
Fox jumped back, then darted in again, this time swinging to side in an attempt to catch her opponent in the ribs, but instead of impacting fur and flesh, her weapon passed harmlessly through a monster-shaped cloud of milky white fog.
The Camo Ranger blinked as the cloud dissipated, dissolving before her eyes.
"Destroy them," the monster's voice commanded. "And bring me that map fragment!"
"Hey! Get back here! I wasn't done with-"
"Uuuuuuh….."
Fox spun around to see the mummy, sitting upright in his sarcophagus, turn to face her. There was the sound of fabric straining, and then tearing as Assyrus-Ra's arms tore their way through the bandages that secured them across his chest.
He lunged at the Camo Ranger, who jumped back to avoid being grabbed.
"Woah! Down boy." Fox whipped out her Zeo Blaster and combined it with her baton, forming a rifle.
An array of rainbow-colored light flashed across the walls of the room as the other Rangers materialized behind her, fully morphed.
"Are we late for the party?" Deacon asked, twirling his staff. The red orb that sat atop the plus-shaped Silver Zeo symbol at the end flashed brightly.
"Just in time," Fox replied.
Assyrus-Ra grabbed the side of his coffin and jumped out, landing on the ground in a crouch, his dehydrated skin crackling as he flexed his joints, flakes of dead material falling to the ground. He let out a deep, rasping groan, rising to his feet. He gestured imperiously at them, his regal bearing apparent in his posture, and the Rangers flinched, expecting some sort of supernatural attack.
Apparently, so had Assyrus-Ra, and he was just as surprised as the Rangers when none came. He looked at his mummified fingers in bafflement.
"Looks like wolf-boy backed the wrong horse," Fox quipped.
"Take him down," Deacon suggested dismissively.
Six blasts of Ranger-colored light flashed forth, five beams of Zeo-Rifle fire and one stream of silver fire from Deacon's staff.
Assyrus-Ra leapt aside with surprising agility for a six-thousand-year old corpse, allowing the attack to strike his sarcophagus, blasting his eternal resting place into a pile of sandstone rubble.
The pharaoh quickly rolled to his feet and rushed over to the doorway that led to the other mummy-related exhibits, bending down and picking up the inert body of Ms. Falstaff. He held her in a chokehold as he backed towards the door, clearly threatening to break her neck if the Rangers followed.
Kalen raised her rifle anyway, taking aim.
"How badly do we want her kept alive?" she asked.
"Um…not very, really," Fox answered honestly.
Bobby laid a hand on Kalen's gun, forcing the barrel down. "No," he reprimanded. "Let him go."
The Purple Zeo Ranger sighed, tapping her foot impatiently.
There was a groan from the next room.
"Oh my gods, Jareth!" Fox ran towards the sound to find the demorphed Gold Ranger, lying amidst the shattered remains of the display case he'd been looking in previously. Broken glass lay scattered over the floor, as well as numerous jewels, gems, and crystals.
"You okay, bro?" Deacon asked, appearing alongside Fox and helping the fallen Ranger to his feet.
"Ooh…pink bunnies…"
"Okay, that's a no," the Camo Ranger surmised. Between her and Deacon, they managed to lead the staggering Ranger back into the Assyrus-Ra exhibit room with the others. "You're bleeding. A lot."
Noting a shard of glass embedded in his forehead, Fox reached over to pull it out, only to have Jareth flinch and draw back when she touched it. "Ow." He brought his own fingers to the shard, grimacing but not trying to remove it. "Damn. That's gonna scar." He blinked, clearing his head. "Where's the wolf?"
"Wolf?" Terina asked. "You mean mummy."
"There was a wolf. He left. The mummy went thataway," Fox reported. "Took Falstaff as a hostage."
"Grr. Mummy." Jareth wiped some of the tangled, bloodstained hair from his face and started towards the door to the chamber into which Assyrus-Ra had retreated, limping slightly.
"You sure you're…," Deacon started.
"Zeo Ranger Six-Gold!"
There was a burst of golden light as the Gold Ranger's armor appeared.
"..okay," Deacon finished. He glanced at the others and shrugged.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Assyrus-Ra dragged the terrified human into the room, ignoring its screams of horror, fervently wishing it had stayed unconscious.
Something was wrong. Something was…missing. His skin was dry, his body brittle, his powers gone. And worst of all, he couldn't think. He couldn't remember anything, nothing connected. All he knew was that he was being attacked, attacked by seven strangers in multicolored armor.
Destroy them.
The pharaoh shook his head, the ancient bandages crumbling as he did.
Bring me the map.
Frantically, the mummy spun around, forgetting the human, letting her fall to the floor to scramble away like an insect. He searched for the source of the voice, but saw no one.
Destroy them. Bring me the map.
It wasn't much, but it was the only concrete thought that he was capable of. The words kept running through his head, over and over again, the language strange but the meaning clear as crystal.
Destroy them. Bring me the map.
But how? If he attacked, they would destroy him. His powers had left him, he had nothing. And there was nothing here that could…
There.
The world was blurred to his rotten eyes, but two things stood out, shimmering like stars, their outlines the only things that were distinct. A pair of ceramic jars. His jars.
"Hey!"
The mummy spun, easily identifying the location of this voice…it belonged to the gold-armored figure in the doorway.
"Drop the teacher and get back in your…okay, halfway there…now get back in your box."
"Get her out of here," Deacon suggested, gesturing to the teacher, who was huddled in the corner. He nudged Jareth aside and readied his staff. "I got this."
The Silver Ranger leapt forward, attacking with the bladed end of his weapon.
Again, moving with surprising speed for a decrepit corpse, Assyrus-Ra sidestepped the blow, allowing the Silver Ranger's blow to strike the display case behind him, the glass shattering loudly.
The other Rangers winced at the sound, as did Deacon.
"Oops. Um…okay, if anyone asks, the mummy did that," he said. "Hey!" he added as Assyrus-Ra rudely shoved him aside, grabbing the canopic jars from the smashed case.
Deacon took a few steps back, moving to stand alongside the Rangers as they spread out to surround the mummy in a half-circle. The mummy held his jars aloft triumphantly.
"Okay…is he planning to throw those at us, or what?" Terina asked.
"If you knew what was in them, that idea would probably scare you a lot mo-" Fox broke off her thought mid-sentence as the air in the room began to swirl, a glowing circular glyph appearing on the ground beneath Assyrus-Ra's feet.
As the golden rune on began to spin, an eerie nimbus of light began to shine from the canopic jars in the mummy's hands, their glow crawling up his arms and entering his lower torso. After a moment, the glyph faded and the strange light died out abruptly, the jars crumbling to dust in his hands.
There was an expectant pause, the mummy staring at the Rangers haughtily, as though it had just won.
"What was he trying to do?" Bobby asked. 'And…do you think it worked?"
Kalen nudged the Gold Ranger. "Let's find out. Jareth, sic 'im."
"My pleasure," he replied, conjuring his own staff. "Battle cry!" he yelled, leaping at the mummy, swinging his weapon.
Assyrus-Ra raised an arm towards the airborne Ranger, but this time, something happened…namely, flames erupted from his hand, a concentrated fireball blasting forth from the mummy's decayed fingers and catching the Gold Ranger in the chest. The blast knocked him from the air, sending him flying against the back wall, where hung the golden tablet.
Jareth slid to the ground, winded, then let out an "Oof!" as the slab of heavy metal slipped its hangings and fell down painfully into his lap.
"Yep," Terina said. "It worked."
"Remember when I said 'Take him down'?" Deacon asked.
"Yeah?" Fox recalled.
"Let's do that now."
"Kay," she replied.
The Six Rangers still standing dove into battle, attacking the mummy from all sides. Assyrus-Ra defended himself with fireballs, as well as flaming punches and kicks.
Destroy them.
"Rrrrrgh!" Letting out a hollow roar, the pharaoh redoubled the heat from the flames engulfing his hands, spinning around with his arms straight out to create a wide ring of intense flames, forcing the Rangers back. Ever after the undead king stopped spinning, the ring of fire remained, expanding to force the Rangers back and keep them at bay.
Spinning to a halt as the Rangers retreated, the heat overwhelming even through their armor, the mummy held out a hand, crumbling fingers wide. A speck appeared in his hand, widening, lengthening, growing longer as more material was added to it, becoming a long, ornate golden scepter as the long-dead king willed more material to be added.
"Big deal," Deacon said. "I've got one of those."
The mummy glared balefully out at the Silver Ranger through his rotten eye sockets, beckoning a challenge.
Deacon stared at the gesture in surprise. "Okay," he said confidently. "You're on."
Flipping as he leapt over the circle of fire, Deacon landed in a fighting stance directly in front of the pharaoh, staff at the ready.
Assyrus-Ra's scepter erupted into intense flames as he struck at his opponent, Nearly knocking him back into the ring of flames. Deacon whirled his arms, regaining his balance just before he would have toppled over backward into the ultrahot fire.
A flaming swipe came at his head, and the Silver Ranger ducked, allowing it to pass harmlessly over him.
Squinting through his visor and the rippling of the broiling air, Deacon stuck out a leg and spun, knocking Assyrus-ra's feet out from under him. The pharaoh let out a rough cry from his ruined vocal chords as he fell, his head striking the tiled floor of the museum.
His concentration disrupted, the circle of flame faded, the thick band of fire withering and dying out. The mummy shook his head, dislodging organic dust from the folds of his bandages, looking up to see the other Rangers moving in.
With an irritated hiss, he laid a hand on the ground. A surge of power rippled through the tile, and before the others knew it, the ground beneath their feet had turned to vapor, plunging them into a deep, circular pit.
Turning his attention back to Deacon, the mummy rolled aside, just in time to avoid a downward thrust that would have speared him through the head. Rising to his feet, Assyrus-Ra leveled his golden scepter at Deacon and began launching spheres of blue-white flame. The Silver Ranger ducked, spun, and cartwheeled, evading each blast, the bolts of flame soaring past him to explode against the walls and hangings of the museum.
Something flashed out of the corner of the mummy's eye, and he froze. He held up a hand in Deacon's direction, no fiery attack this time, but the universal symbol for "Wait!"
Deacon paused. "What? A time out? Are you kidding me?"
The mummy paid him no mind. His attention was on Jareth.
Bring me the map.
The Gold Ranger was climbing to his feet, a bit dizzy from the blow, and, he suspected, more than a little blood loss.
"Hrrrrgh!" Assyrus-Ra demanded, holding out his hand towards Jareth in the universal gesture for "Give!"
Jareth blinked at him, puzzled, then glanced down at the broken golden tablet he still held. Curious, he held it up and pointed to it, using the universal gesture for "What, this?"
"Give!" the mummy gestured again, imperiously, taking a step towards him.
Jareth held the tablet to his chest, shaking his head in the universal gesture for "Nah-uh!"
The mummy took another step in Jareth's direction, but stopped as Deacon's staff was suddenly held out horizontally before him, barring his way.
His decayed eyes traveled from the staff against his chest, over to the Silver Ranger standing off to the side.
"Rggh…"
Clapping a hand onto the Silver Power Staff, The mummy worked his power on the air, causing it to transform into thick tendrils of metal, coils of solid steel that snaked over the weapon, up Deacon's arms and around his entire body.
"Hey!" Deacon struggled against the metal coils, but they were rigid, ensnaring his torso and limbs and holding him in place. He strained, exerting his Ranger-enhanced strength, but the bars refused to bend. He was effectively immobilized.
The mummy calmly planted a hand on his helmet and shoved.
"Waugh!" the Silver Ranger yelled, toppling over onto his back with a loud clatter. "Ooh, you're gonna regret this…," he growled at the ceiling, unable to turn his head.
Assyrus-Ra returned his attention to Jareth…just in time to take the golden tablet to the head. The mummy spun with the force of the blow; it was a wonder his calcified neck had managed to hold his head to his body. Staggering to a halt, the pharaoh stumbled, regaining his balance. He glared at the Gold Ranger through the eyeholes in his bandages.
"Hey, you wanted it," Jareth reminded him.
The mummy breathed an infuriated growl, raising his scepter…but a whistle sounded from the other end of the room.
He turned to see the other five Rangers, finally having climbed free from the hole into which he'd dropped them, each one having his or her Zeo Rifle trained on him.
Assyrus-Ra froze…then, before any of them could react, he grabbed Jareth, tablet and all, and heaved him at his friends.
"Woah!" Jareth cried, as he was used as a projectile, flying into the other Rangers, knocking down the lot of them, the group winding up in a painful heap of armored bodies.
"He's getting away!" Terina yelled, struggling to disentangle herself from the pile.
"What's going on?" Deacon demanded, struggling. "I can't see!"
The mummy raced to the back of the room, and, finding the door locked, threw himself against it a couple times. Finally, in desperation, he planted a hand against it. Translucency spread from his palm as he turned the steel to glass, then, with a single shattering blow from his scepter, he escaped into the alley behind the museum.
"After him!" Bobby yelled, as the Rangers finally managed to separate.
Sirens split the air. The Rangers froze, realizing for the first time the state of the room. Display cases were shattered, there were holes in the walls, curtains were on fire…to say nothing of the shattered door and the enormous hole in the middle of the floor.
"I think we should be leaving," Kalen suggested. She strode over to Deacon and touched her fingers against his visor, teleporting away in a flash of Silver and Purple light, leaving behind the person-shaped metal frame.
"When you're right, you're right," Bobby said. "Back to the ship, guys. We'll catch up with the dead guy later."
More lights flashed, leaving the room empty and motionless except for the small fires still burning here and there.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"So, mind telling us what all that was about?" Kalen asked, as the group reappeared on the bridge of the Oasis.
"Some wolf-monster brought a mummy to life to look for this," Fox replied, taking the golden tablet from Jareth and holding it up. "From what he said, I gather it's the other half to some map."
"I have often wondered why, if Lord Zedd was in possession of Medelon's map, he had not simply claimed the Power Coins and moved on," Zord-1 chimed in. "His lacking the complete map would go a long way towards explaining his actions."
"Lemme see that," Terina said, taking the slab from the Camo Ranger. She raised an eyebrow at it. "Doesn't look Eltarian to ME. But then, it was Medelon's. He was always a strange one, by all accounts."
"I tried to read it, but I couldn't make it out," the Gold Ranger reported, hopping to one of the chairs and sitting down.
"You thought you could read this?" Bobby asked incredulously, eyeing the tablet over Terina's shoulder. "How?"
"It's a gift," he replied, tensely, undoing his shoelaces.
"Jareth?" Angel asked. "Why are you limping?"
"Something in my boot," he replied. "I think it's a piece of glass from that stupid display case."
"Shatterproof my ass, huh?" Deacon surmised.
"Well, my ass shattered it," Jareth replied, pulling off his boot and shaking out a small, transparent shard into his hand. He glanced at it, looked away, did a double-take, and then quickly tucked the jagged piece into his pocket.
"Your head is bleeding," Terina said. She leaned in for a closer look. "In fact, there's a shard of glass sticking out of it."
"That would explain the searing pain," Jareth agreed.
"Hold still," Fox commanded, seizing his head and grabbing the shard between two fingers. It was in deep…not deep enough to hit skull, but deep enough to leave a nasty scar. Fortunately, his hair would cover it. She gave it a yank, pulling it free. Blood immediately started pouring down the side of his face.
"Ow," he said.
"I think this'll need stitches," the Camo Ranger said.
"Perhaps one of you should escort him to the medbay," Zord-1 suggested.
"We have a medbay?" Deacon asked.
"Indeed. A fully equipped medical facility."
"Let's hope we don't need to use it too often," Bobby muttered.
"Oh, relax," Jareth said, as Fox led him from the room. "How many times can a person get thrown through a wall?"
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"You failed."
The mummy spun around, his hands burning…but lowered them when he saw the white-furred wolf-man standing behind him.
"And yet, you show promise," the wolflike creature intoned. "Never have I seen powers like yours. You may yet make a powerful servant."
"Rrrrgh," Assyrus-Ra growled. Something about the word 'servant' made him balk, but he couldn't think what. He still couldn't think. Why couldn't he think?
"Those jars…they hold your powers, do they not?"
"Rrrgh."
"Then we shall have to find the rest of them. Come."
Raising his staff, the creature conjured a stream of white mist that filled the dingy alley, obscuring everything.
When it faded, they were gone.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"And you say that the mummy demonstrated neither pyrokinesis nor transmutation until after he had absorbed the canopic jars?" Zord-1 asked.
"That's right," Bobby replied.
"You think he gains a new power from each jar?" Terina asked, her elfin features twisted into a contemplative frown.
"That appears to be the case," Zord-1 agrees. "Although I cannot imagine what the mechanism for such a process would be."
"Magic?" Kalen suggested flatly.
"Unlikely," Zord-1 replied. "The only magic the Oasis' sensors were able to detect within that museum was that of the wolf-creature that Jareth and Fox battled prior to your arrival. The pharaoh himself does not resonate with any magical influences, other than slight traces of the enchantment that grants him life."
Bobby squinted, trying to absorb this. "You're saying that, all of the stuff that guy did…none of that was magic?"
"Correct."
"Weird."
"What about that wolf-creature?" Deacon piped up. "How's he fit into all this?"
"Bio-scans have confirmed that he is a Zornian," the computer replied. The screen at the front of the room lit up with a medical scan of a nude Zornian male. "They are a humanoid race evolved from creatures not unlike Terran wolves. The symbol on the end of his staff is the sign of Bathas, the Zornian god of royalty, meaning he is most likely a priest in service to the royal family of Zorn." The computer paused. "It is strange, however, to see a Zornian active."
"What do you mean?" the Silver Ranger inquired, eyes on the symbol of Bathas that currently occupied the screen.
"Zorn is frozen solid," Terina informed him. "About a hundred years or so before the Battle of Eltar, someone used powerful magic to encase the entire planet in dark crystal. Froze the entire Zornian race. Nobody knows why."
As she spoke, Zord-1's screen produced an image of a planet not unlike Terra, except that it was mostly snow-covered land and very little ocean. As they watched, a wave of indigo flames raced over the planet's surface, covering it in blue-black crystal, leaving it looking jagged, spikey and uninviting.
"So…this Zornian must have left the planet prior to that," Angel surmised. "Making him at least six hundred years old."
"Unlikely," the computer said again. "Not only did the Zornian race lack the technology for interstellar travel, their lifespan was no longer than that of the average human."
"Maybe he was the one who did it," Kalen muttered. "Anyway, whoever he is, this Zornian obviously has magical powers. Maybe that makes him live longer."
"It is not uncommon for a mage to utilize his magical powers to prolong his life," Zord-1 agreed. "Those few that survive their first few years of magehood, anyway."
"Could the magic also explain how he got off his planet before it turned into a Yule tree ornament?" Deacon asked.
"Using magic to escape from a planet's gravity well can be…problematic," the computer replied. "Especially since few sentient creatures have the capacity to calculate interstellar cartography in their heads. But yes, it is possible."
"Okay, so…our enemies are a mysterious six-hundred-year-old alien who can raise the dead, and a pharaoh with non-magical superpowers," Bobby summed up.
"Not to mention the monsters who have been randomly attacking people down in Destiny," Deacon reminded him.
"I do not believe that there is anything random about those attacks, Rangers," Zord-1 said. "Like Kalen, those specific individuals were likely targeted for a reason. I shall try to gather more information on Assyrus-Ra and this mysterious Zornian. In the meantime, I advise you to investigate anyone claiming to have been attacked. Seek to gain their trust. Find out what they know."
"Has anyone come forward with such a claim?" Angel asked.
"Now that you mention it, yes," the computer replied. One of the consoles came to life, a slip of paper printing itself out and extruding through a slot in the control panel. Angel grabbed it and tore it off, reading.
"Hmm. An Enforcer. At 16? Impressive."
"Quite," the computer agreed. "You will find that his record speaks for itself. He completed his marksmanship training…a course that normally takes three weeks…in an hour. His instructor went on record as saying that there was absolutely nothing that he could teach him."
Deacon let out a low whistle. "And he says he was attacked?"
"According to this, he claims to have killed the monster," Angel replied. "It's why his perp got away. His superiors don't know what to make of it, since he's always been a model officer. They're recommending he take a vacation."
"Please explain to me how people fail to notice these giant monsters?" Deacon asked.
"They have yet to make any grand, public appearances. And most of their attacks fail to leave much in the way of evidence. Furthermore, I, myself, have been taking measures to prevent public panic…for example, it was I that obscured the news reports of Klepto's activities down in Miami," the computer informed them.
"And the missing people?"
"Thus far, not including the tribe you accidentally slaughtered last week, there have been no more than five confirmed monster-related deaths. They are simply considered 'missing'."
"I think we need to have a little talk with Officer Harper," Terina suggested, standing up, hands on her hips. "Deacon, how about you and I…"
"I think Deacon and Bobby ought to be getting back to class," Kalen interrupted.
Almost in unison, Deacon and Bobby cursed, jumping to their feet.
"We gotta go," Bobby said, turning and heading for the door. As he left, he turned to Deacon. "Dammit. You and I have got to stop going to the bathroom together and not coming back for hours. People are starting to talk."
Terina shook her head as the door closed behind them. "Okay. Angel and I can go talk to the cop," she said. "That is, if Angel is willing…?"
The large teenager nodded solemnly.
"Kalen? You coming?" the Eltarian asked.
The Purple Ranger shook her head. "Think I'll stay and help Jareth and Fox with their excuse," she said.
"Their excuse for what?"
"For not being dead," Kalen replied. "When they turn up for class tomorrow after missing the head count that their tour group undoubtedly took when it left the museum."
"Ooh. Good point," Terina replied. "Okay. Zord-1? Teleport us to Officer Harper's house, please."
The two of them vanished, yellow and gray light briefly brightening the ship's Bridge.
Kalen sighed, standing up. "So," she said. "Which way to the medbay?"
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"You sure you know what you're doing?" Jareth asked warily, eying the needle in his friend's hand.
"Sure," she said. "Well…no. Not really. But that gash has got to be closed up. You know that."
"Not necessarily," the Gold Ranger replied evasively. "I could wear a hat."
"Just hold still."
"No! Get away from me. Can I get an actual doctor, please? Someone who's actually had medical training?"
"The Oasis does have a full complement of training material," Zord-1's voice informed them.
Fox jumped…she'd forgotten that the computer could as easily talk to them in the medbay as it could in the Bridge.
"I don't have time to study," she argued. "We've got to sew up that gash before it gets infected and your brain rots."
Kalen, just entering the room, paused. "Having fun?" she asked, taking in Jareth's reluctance to be treated with a smirk.
"Oodles," Fox snapped.
"There is really no need for study," Zord-1 said. "I can simply upload the information into your memory via your comchip."
This gave all three Rangers pause.
"You…you're saying that you can just…download skills into our minds?" the Camo Ranger repeated incredulously.
"Correct," Zord-1 replied. "I used the word 'upload' out of courtesy, but the fact is, I am more advanced than a human brain, technically making it a download."
"I don't think it was your word choice she was struggling with," Jareth quipped.
"Okay…so, do it. Hook me up," Fox said. "I want every piece of medical training you've got."
"As you wish."
Fox's eyes widened.
"Well?" Jareth asked, after a moment. "Did it work?"
"Oh, yeah," she replied quietly, mentally reviewing everything she'd just learned.
It had been amazing…one moment she'd been completely in the dark…and now, she just knew. She knew how to clamp. She knew how to suture. She knew how to perform an appendectomy. She knew how to deliver a baby. She knew how to lance a boil, how to draw blood, how to set a broken femur. She knew the name for each and every bone, muscle and organ in the human body. She knew what the word antipyretic meant. She knew what sort of thread to use for an internal suture, she knew how to perform open-heart surgery. She knew the names for pieces of medical equipment she'd never even seen before…some things she suspected no one on Terra had ever seen before. She knew how to treat conditions of organs that she was pretty sure humans didn't have.
To be honest, it was all just a little overwhelming.
She adjusted her grip on the sewing needle…she'd been holding it wrong.
"Okay," she said confidently. "I know what I'm doing. NOW will you hold still?"
Jareth paused, taking note of the unmistakable confidence in her voice.
"Suuuure."
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"Okay…so…what do we say to this guy?" Terina wondered. As she and Angel stood before a small house, located towards the back of an obscure Destiny neighborhood. "Do we just walk in and say, "Hi, I'm an alien and this is my friend, we're supernatural warriors and we wondered if you knew anything about why that monster attacked you last night?"
Angel shot her a bemused look. "To be honest, I rather thought you had something in mind already." He considered. "Perhaps we could approach him as Rangers? He's an Enforcer. They respect uniforms, yes?"
Terina considered, but shook her head. "Let's try as ourselves, first."
Angel shrugged.
The two of them approached the door. Angel reached out and rang the doorbell.
Immediately, loud barks boomed out from the other side of the door. Terina jumped, startled, her already wide eyes widening further.
"It's just a dog," Angel said, eyeing her strangely.
"I hate dogs," the alien girl snapped.
"Kaia! Quiet down. Gods, you always do this." The door opened, and a young man peered curiously out at them, one hand on the collar of an enormous German Shepherd. He gazed at them with piercing blue eyes, his thick black hair closely cropped to his head and gelled into small spikes. His outfit was basic, a black T-shirt and a pair of blue jeans. "Can I help you?"
"Are you Officer Harper?" Terina asked.
"Yes. Who are you?"
"My name is Angel, and this is Terina," the Gray Ranger replied softly. "Sir, we'd like to talk to you, if we could, about the incident that occurred last night."
The officer's eyes narrowed. "How do you know about that?" he asked suspiciously.
"May we come in?"
The Enforcer appeared to consider for a moment, before stepping back, pulling Kaia away from the door so that the two could enter.
The inside of the house was decorated in a manner that suggested that the occupant had a limited income, but was determined to do the best he could with what he had. The furniture was simple, probably secondhand, but tastefully matched and arranged. A good deal of the decorating budget had clearly gone towards the entertainment center that occupied one corner of the living room. Various awards and medals decorated one wall, including a small (but real) gun in a glass display case.
Kaia stayed near her master's feet, growling softy at Terina, who warily kept her distance.
"You guys want anything to drink?" Officer Harper offered entering the small kitchenette that stood just off the living room.
"Water, please," Angel replied.
"Make that two," Terina agreed.
"Well, you guys are easy," the Enforcer muttered. He opened the fridge and produced two bottles, tossing them to his guests. Angel caught his easily, Terina fumbled slightly.
"So," he said, sitting across from them. "What do you know about what happened to me last night?"
"Little. We understand that you were attacked by a strange creature."
"Officer Harper-" Terina began.
"Please," the Enforcer said. "Call me Troy."