Scorched Earth
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, just the right to put them through hell for my own amusement. Saban owns everything Power Rangers related. Anything you don't recognize is mine.
Plot Summary: When a nameless evil invades Earth, killing everything in its path, the first eleven Power Rangers must face an enemy beyond anything they've ever encountered; and this time, they'll be pushed farther than some of them are willing to go.
Timeline: Very AU from the moment Zeo started; slightly AU from the moment Jason, Zack and Trini left. Takes place midway through Zeo, only Zeo didn't happen. Jason, Trini and Zack are still attending the Peace Conference in Geneva, Kim is still in Florida training for the Pan Globals, and Aisha is still in Africa. When they left, however, their powers weren't transferred – they still have them, and five new powers were created for their replacements. Also, that whole letter thing didn't happen, either. The current team, led by Tommy, is Billy, Rocky, Adam, Kat and Tanya.
Pairings: Jason/Trini, Tommy/Kim, Rocky/Aisha; others may come later.
A/N: This story assumes that the Rangers were juniors in high school when they got their original powers, meaning they are currently in their second year of college, putting their ages at approximately 20-21.
Warning: Rated M for graphic violence, language, crude humor and disturbing content, including major character death. (Nothing too explicit as far as sexual content, I'll keep that PG-13.) Essentially, this is what I imagine an R-rated Power Rangers movie would've looked like. If only, right?
A/N 2: Sorry about the wait. Life's gotten a bit crazy recently. Read the warning above especially closely before you read this chapter - it's about to kick in hardcore. Big shout out to everybody who's read, reviewed, followed and favorited.
Chapter 4: "Bruised and Scarred"
"He who has a why to live can bear almost any how."
-Friedrich Nietzsche
Command Center Main Chamber
Somewhere Outside Angel Grove, CA
August 28, 2012
11:15 AM PDT
Adam poked his head through the doorway into the Main Chamber. He'd teleported himself straight to the Medical Bay, and utilized one of the incredibly advanced pieces of medical equipment the Command Center had on hand to gently extract the shard of glass from his lower back. After taking a moment to ensure that he hadn't sustained any nerve damage and administering some antibiotics, he'd had the wound closed using a precision laser that cauterized the flesh together, popped a dose of painkillers and slapped a patch of gauze onto his back. Once that was done, all he had to do was grab a quick change of clothes from his private quarters and head back to the Main Chamber to see what the hell was going on.
Still slightly favoring his left leg and scratching absentmindedly at his bandage, Adam slowly swung the door to the Main Chamber open and moved quietly inside, hoping not to disturb whatever Zordon and Alpha may have been doing.
That was quickly rendered unnecessary.
"Adam." Zordon's voice boomed from his time-warp tube and echoed through the Chamber; as usual, Adam even felt the ground under his feet vibrate softly. The giant, shimmering head turned in his direction and appeared to examine him before continuing. "Are you all right?"
Emboldened, Adam strode into the Chamber with a bit more purpose. "I'm fine, Zordon," he replied, gesturing to himself. "It's the others back at the Youth Center I'm worried about. I should get back there and help them."
"Ay-yi-yi-yi-yi! I'm afraid that's impossible!" Alpha 5 lamented, glancing up momentarily from where he labored frantically at a console near the Viewing Globe. Adam frowned at the little robot inquisitively. "There's some kind of interstellar radiation coating the area, making teleportation in or out nearly impossible."
One particular word in that sentence caught Adam's ears. "Nearly impossible? So there is a way back there."
Alpha paused what he was working on and turned to face the green-clad young man. "In order to teleport into the contaminated area, we would need to put you down somewhere more than thirty feet off the ground, like the roof of a building. Not only would that take incredibly precise aiming, timing and power usage, but we would have no way of knowing if the surface you were landing on was at any reliable level of structural integrity. You could end up on a roof only for it to collapse beneath you."
"Shit," Adam hissed, running a hand through his hair. He turned back into the center of the Chamber. "What about communications? If we can get through to the others we can tell them that they need to get thirty feet off the ground to teleport."
"Unfortunately, Adam, this strange radiation has affected communications as well," Zordon said gravely. "We have had no luck contacting any of the other Rangers."
Adam exhaled slowly through his nose. "OK…" he thought carefully for a moment, forcing himself not to panic. He had to figure out where he could do the most good. He couldn't do anything for his five friends at the Youth Center right now – he'd just have to hope they found high ground to teleport from. What he could do was figure out what the hell had just happened out there so when they did show up he'd be able to supply them with some pertinent information. "So what the hell is happening out there, Zordon? One minute everything's fine and the next the whole Youth Center's being blown to hell. Have Rita and Zedd finally grown a pair?"
Something happened as that question left Adam's mouth that he'd never expected to see in his entire life, something that frightened him more than he was willing to admit. The mention of Rita and Zedd caused Zordon to visibly flinch – and even after Adam finished asking his question, the Eltarian sage actually hesitated. As Adam looked on, the color quickly draining out of his face, the being he'd come to think of almost as a father, who he'd learned to trust as one of the wisest beings in the universe, actually looked as though he were at a complete loss for words. It was at that moment that the truth finally struck home.
They were all in some deep shit.
"Zordon?" Adam's entreaty was softer, almost meek; he hated how childish his voice sounded, like a toddler begging a parent for safety during a thunderstorm. Zordon seemed to understand.
"The situation is quite grave, Adam," the Eltarian said. "Angel Grove is not the only city under attack. Alpha, show Adam the printouts."
Without even turning his head from what he was doing, Alpha extended his hand toward Adam, a small stack of papers clenched in it. Adam took it and began leafing through, his eyes slowly widening as the events of the morning played out on the pages before him. After a moment, he froze halfway down one page and looked up to demand an explanation from Zordon for what he was seeing.
That was when the others teleported in. None of them looked any better off than Adam had been; in fact, most of them looked worse. Billy was practically dead on his feet, leaning on both Tommy and Rocky for support; those two looked pretty bad themselves, Tommy bleeding profusely through the makeshift bandage tied around his forehead and Rocky gripping his left side with his free hand, barely able to put any weight on his left foot. As the three turned away from him, Adam gasped at the vicious burns that had savaged the back of Rocky's neck, his flesh blackened and blistered like a charred hamburger. Tanya and Kat had landed nearby; Kat's legs had been badly lacerated, a cluster of angry bruises colored any exposed skin above her waist, and as Adam looked on, she did something incredibly un-Kat-like, hocking a large mouthful of bloody mucus onto the Command Center floor. Out of all of them, Tanya appeared to be the least injured, her only visible wound being the trickle of blood from her upper left arm. Adam lurched toward them and gently took half of Billy's weight off of Rocky's shoulders before his friend passed out on the spot.
"Tommy," Adam said gently but firmly, pulling his leader out of a sort of daze. "Do you think you can walk as far as the Med Bay?"
Tommy didn't answer, just nodded a little, and he and Adam moved Billy haltingly forward toward the main corridor. As they moved past the girls, Adam caught Tanya's eye. "Can you two help get Rocky to the Med Bay? He looks pretty bad."
"I got it," Rocky retorted brusquely, pushing past Adam and leading them out of the Main Chamber. The other three male rangers filed through the doorway one at a time; Billy let out a small groan of pain as Tommy bumped him into the doorframe. Adam watched Rocky storm down the hallway and shove the door to Med Bay open with a frustrated grunt.
"Fucking Reds," Adam muttered, adjusting Billy's weight. He heard what he hoped was an amused chuckle and not another moan of pain from Billy as he and Tommy helped him down the hall. By the time they reached the Med Bay, the two of them were dragging Billy along, his toes scraping on the floor. Adam and Tommy lay Billy down on one of the five available medical beds and let the machines go to work. Rocky had already made it to another, and Adam went to lead Tommy to the third, only to see him already heading back toward the exit. Without hesitation, Adam stepped in front of Tommy and put a hand on his chest.
"Where the hell do you think you're going?"
Tommy glared at him. "I have work to do."
Adam nodded. "Yeah, it's called not dying. Now go put your ass on the bed or I swear to god I'll do it for you."
Tommy smiled weakly and raised an eyebrow. "You really think you could?"
"Dude, it wouldn't even be fair," Adam scoffed, nudging Tommy gently back. "Now go lie down before I have to prove it to you."
Tommy seemed to begrudgingly agree and finally took the bed at the end of the row. Adam glanced around the Medical Bay, still squinting a little in the harsh fluorescent lights. The room was meticulously clean, the five beds and their attached equipment gleaming in the lights. The bed Tommy chose was fitted, like the others, with an extensive array of sophisticated medical apparatuses from Aquitar, Triforia and Eltar that worked directly with the morphing grid, giving them the capacity to heal many injuries that would be crippling or even lethal to normal humans in a matter of only a few hours – as long as the patient was both linked to the grid themselves and not injured too severely. A sixth, enclosed berth sat in the far corner of the room, into which someone suffering from injuries that might be life-threatening even to a Ranger could be directly teleported if necessary. They'd never had to use that bed before, to Adam's knowledge; he hoped it would stay that way. From Adam's quick visual assessment, he guessed that Tommy and Rocky could at the very least be on their feet and alert – if still a little woozy – in only a few minutes. Billy, on the other hand, he feared may take quite a bit longer to heal.
As the machines whirred to life and got to work on Tommy's injuries, Adam turned on his heel and trotted back through the main corridor and into the Main Chamber, where Kat and Tanya stood waiting for him, hovering near the console on which Alpha was working. Tanya glanced up at him when he entered.
"Hey."
"Hey yourself," he answered with a small smile. "You two feeling all right?"
"I'm OK," Tanya said. "I can wait until everyone else has had a turn in the chop shop before I need to use it."
"Billy hates when we call it that, you know," Kat interjected without looking up. "And I could probably use a turn myself, but I am not leaving this room until we find out what happened out there."
The three of them looked up at Zordon. The old sage seemed reluctant to tell them anything, but after a moment he relented.
"We first heard about these attacks approximately two hours ago," Zordon began. "Strangely, though, none of our alarms were ever set off, and none of our sensors picked up any sort of alien activity."
"Wait," Tanya put in, holding up a finger. "This is something Rita and Zedd cooked up, right? Has to be."
"That was our assumption as well," Alpha said. "But then we finally got a visual lock on the Moon Palace and found…this."
The Viewing Globe suddenly lit up, and Adam, Kat and Tanya crowded around it. The image they beheld was jaw-dropping. Rita and Zedd's Moon Palace lay in smoldering ruins, the once impressive tower toppled over onto the lunar surface. The smoking piles of debris were splashed with several different colors of blood, and here and there the Rangers could see the odd piece of Putty – an arm, a leg, a few heads.
"What the fuck…?" Adam couldn't verbalize the shock he felt; he and the girls simply turned back to Zordon, bewildered looks on their faces.
"We can find no traces of Rita, Zedd, Goldar, Rito, Scorpina, Squatt, Baboo or Finster anywhere within the entire range of our sensors," Zordon said somberly. "We can only assume they've been destroyed by whatever it is that's attacking Earth."
"You mean we still don't know?" Kat asked incredulously, leaning against a console for balance. When Zordon didn't answer, she added, "Is there anything we do know?"
"I'm afraid our knowledge of this situation is very limited, Katherine," Zordon replied. "And the information we do have is not reassuring." The Viewing Globe lit up again, and the three Rangers present examined it as Zordon continued. "All we know at this point is that these unknown invaders don't match any of our databases of evil races in the known universe, and that over the course of the last two hours, one of their ships has attacked nearly every major city, national capital, and major global political site on the entire planet."
"What do you mean every major city?" Kat demanded. "How many of these bastards are there?"
"Almost every city in the world with a population greater than three million has been completely devastated," Zordon said. "Along with the headquarters of every international political organization – the United Nations, NATO, the ICC, and others – and every national capital, meaning we must assume that every major world leader is either dead or incapacitated."
"Holy shit," Adam breathed, staring at the floor. "That's over a hundred cities, probably more than a billion people. There's gonna be anarchy all over the world."
"Not to mention there must be thousands of these things up there," Tanya added.
"I'm afraid there's more, Rangers." All three heads in the room jerked toward the sound of Zordon's voice. "There were four sites hit which seemed anomalous to the original pattern. Angel Grove was one."
Something seemed to dawn on Tanya. Her head began slowly shaking back and forth. "Oh my god."
"The others are Miami, Florida…" Adam frowned a little. "Geneva, Switzerland…" His mouth went dry. "And a seemingly random location over Western Africa."
"Wait a minute," Kat said, sounding shell-shocked. "Miami, as in…"
"Kimberly." They turned. Tommy stood in the doorway, still looking like hell but at least seeming stable on his feet. Suddenly Rocky came up behind him, not looking much better.
"And Africa, as in Aisha."
Tanya turned back to Adam. "And Geneva, as in…"
Adam nodded grimly. "The Peace Conference."
The five Rangers exchanged several shocked, tense glances before Kat looked up at Zordon and spoke softly, an unmistakable tremor in her voice. "They deliberately went after the only four places on the entire planet where Power Rangers lived. The only reason they would do that would be that they…" She trailed off, not wanting to voice the idea out loud.
Adam did it for her, closing his eyes somberly as he did.
"They know who we are."
Command Center Main Chamber
Somewhere Outside Angel Grove, CA
August 28, 2012
Noon PDT
Even before the pink sparks that surrounded her had entirely dissipated, the gathered Rangers in the Main Chamber could tell that Kimberly was reaching out for something when she teleported in. She landed on the right side of the room near Zordon's tube, both arms extended before her, fingers grasping frantically for something that was no longer there. Kat, who had been staring blankly at the Viewing Globe for the last ten minutes, turned at the sound of her teleportation and frowned at Kim's position, her face radiating obvious concern. Adam and Tanya froze in the doorway where they'd just returned from taking Rocky back to his quarters, their faces draining of color at the look of horror on Kim's face, her mouth open slightly as though about to call out to someone. Tanya dug her fingers into Adam's arm without even thinking about it; he spared a glance down at her hand, then another at her profile, before turning back to Kim.
For his part, Tommy's face lit up like a kid on Christmas. He seemed to completely disregard Kim's expression or her outstretched arms; grinning from ear to ear, he charged across the Chamber and threw himself at her, squeezing her against his body even as she refused to acknowledge his presence. They stood there awkwardly for a moment, Kim still locked into her original posture, staring through the Command Center floor into whatever scene she'd left behind as Tommy tried to embrace her, before Kim blinked a few times and came violently back to herself, batting Tommy's arms away and staggering back. She looked wildly about the Command Center as though unable to comprehend that she was there before fixing Tommy in a deadly glare.
"The hell is wrong with you?" Kim jabbed an accusatory finger in Tommy's face, stepping aggressively toward him even as he raised his hands in front of him. "There were two people, right next to me, depending on me to get them out of there and you made me just leave them behind."
"Come on, Kim," Tommy countered calmly. "Think this through for five seconds, would you? You know damn well that we can only teleport somebody if they're either wearing a communicator or they're touching someone who is and we can pick up a life sign. If we overrode that we could risk teleporting Putties or even monsters in here."
"Bullshit." Kim made a sharp, sweeping gesture with her right arm. "We've been using that thing on inanimate objects since day one; we've teleported weapons, Zord parts, scanners, those portal generators Billy built…hell, I think we even teleported a car in here once. But when there are two people, two living, breathing people who need our help, they get left behind because you're too fucking incompetent at working the consoles to pick up on their vitals."
The others gaped at Tommy and Kim in stunned silence, except for Alpha, who seemed far too involved in his attempts at locating Aisha to even acknowledge the Rangers' presence. Zordon seemed to be elsewhere, his blurry image absent from the tube for a moment while he worked on retrieving their friends in Switzerland. Tommy blinked a few times, his mouth working soundlessly for a moment before he fixed his jaw and crossed his arms harshly across his chest.
"Look, I get that you disagree with my account of how things happened. Really, I do. It must've been terrifying being down there with no powers, no way out, no way of knowing what the hell was going on –"
"Not as terrifying as having to teleport away while two other people had to just stand there and watch me –"
"Will you let me fucking finish?" Kim snapped her mouth shut and scowled at him. Tommy stepped toward her and went on. "I get that things down there were hard, trust me – we all just watched the Youth Center get blown to shit. But that gives you no right to get in here and just start questioning anyone else's abilities or intentions. You know damn well that we all want the same thing here."
Kim laughed bitterly. "Right. Of course we do." Kim glanced around the room, feeling the tense eyes of her three other friends still drilling into her. She made eye contact with each of them before turning back to Tommy. "Why don't we just skip the part where you put on the whole unshakeable leader act and actually get to the real issue here?"
Tommy narrowed his eyes at her. "The fuck is that supposed to mean?"
Kim shook her head. "Unbelievable. You know, for someone who's supposed to be responsible for coming up with battle plans and making strategic decisions, you do a very good job of playing dumb." She let her bag fall to the floor, the strap catching briefly on a shred of her ruined leotard. The slap of the fabric against the hard floor made Kat and Tanya jump; nobody noticed Tanya grip Adam's arm again. As Kim moved toward Tommy to continue, Zordon's face suddenly came into focus.
"Rangers," he said, snapping five heads toward him. "Jason, Trini and Zachary have arrived in the Medical Bay. All three have sustained significant injuries." He started to say more, but Tommy had already torn his eyes away and made a move for the door. Kim was on his heels immediately, and the two of them pushed roughly past Adam and Tanya and stormed into the corridor; their raised voices could be heard even through the heavy door that slid shut behind them. Adam, Tanya and Kat exchanged looks as another door opened and Rocky came back into the room, looking significantly less worked up than he'd been ten minutes ago. All three turned to face him, and Rocky froze in his tracks at their looks.
"Holy shit, what happened in here? Where's Tommy?"
"Kim's back." Adam motioned at the door behind him with his head. "She and Tommy had a mutual bitch fit, Jason, Trini and Zack might be dying, Aisha's still missing and Earth might be destroyed at any second." He shrugged. "Also, I think I may have left my car unlocked."
Tanya rolled her eyes. "Sounds like a Tuesday."
Rocky moved further into the room and stood next to Kat, leaning against a console and running a hand over his face.
"Have I mentioned fuck our lives?" He let out a frustrated sigh and glanced up at the floor in front of him just as Aisha appeared on it. There was a collective gasp as the four other Rangers in the room converged on her, pulling her quickly to her feet.
"You know," she said, her voice sounding strangely raw. "You guys' timing really sucks."
Command Center Medical Bay
Somewhere Outside Angel Grove, CA
August 28, 2012
12:30 PM PDT
At the sound of the Med Bay doors sliding open, Tommy and Kim had turned to see what awaited them inside. Everything had just stopped. Scathing comebacks and biting sarcasm had withered and died on their tongues in seconds, their argument completely forgotten in the wake of the terrible sight that lay before them, the harsh, clinical lights not leaving anything to the imagination.
Jason lay on the bed closest to them, eyes closed, chest rising and falling erratically as the machinery surrounding him worked furiously on his numerous injuries. From their position, frozen in the doorway, Tommy and Kim could see the gruesome state of the soles of Jason's feet, skin literally dangling from them in ragged, bloody flaps; his entire body was covered in lacerations and bruises, his right shoulder had swollen to a hideous size, and a steady trickle of blood ran down the leg of the table from a wound to the back of his head. Billy and Trini lay beside him, not looking much better. Tommy knew about Billy's condition, so that wasn't as much of a shock, and at least he was conscious.
Trini was a different story. The Yellow Ranger lay in the bed against the far wall, her entire body covered in cuts and bruises, her clothes darkened and stiff with dried blood. Several of her fingers were twisted at impossible angles and a small piece of jagged bone – Tommy hoped it was only a rib – protruded through the skin of her chest. A lump had begun to form in his throat at the sight: the two people before him were two of the strongest people he knew, in every sense of the word, and right now…they looked so damn fragile.
Kim staggered toward Jason as if in a daze, one hand clamped over her mouth, her face draining quickly of blood. Tommy could only watch as she slowly approached his bedside and gently curled her fingers around his hand. Kim was visibly struggling to hold back tears, the shock at seeing her big brother like this made even more intense by the fact that her best friend lay two beds away in just as severe condition. Her free hand gripped the edge of the bed, knuckles turning a frightening shade of white as she fought to keep her knees from buckling beneath her.
Just as Tommy finally overcame his shock and took his first tentative step into the Med Bay, Jason groaned softly and stirred a little. Tommy's legs seemed to work by themselves, propelling him across the room and practically throwing himself against the bed on which his best friend lay. Kim cradled Jason's hand in both of hers and held it up to her cheek, where she nuzzled against it like a kitten.
"Jason?" Kim's voice was barely audible; a quavering, mewling noise that sounded to Tommy like it could just as easily have come from a kicked puppy. Tommy edged carefully toward her, as if she was a deer he'd found in the woods at sunrise. He gently draped one arm around Kim's shoulders; thankfully, this time, instead of shoving him off, she leaned into him and clenched Jason's hand tighter. Tommy squeezed Kim's shoulder and laid his free hand on Jason's stomach, as if to reassure himself that Jason was still there. He was just about to whisper a few comforting clichés in Kim's ear when Jason spoke.
"Could I have my hand back, please?"
Kim's jaw dropped open. She stuttered for a moment before she managed to get her breathing under control. "Hey Mongo," she said softly, her face splitting into an ecstatic smile.
Jason smiled back. "Hey Squirt." His words ran together a little, his voice made airy and a bit off-kilter by the massive influx of morphine. With obvious strain, he lifted his head slightly and looked down at himself before flopping back to the pillow with a grimace. "Fucked myself up pretty good, didn't I?"
"Well it's not like you could get any uglier," Tommy chimed in. Jason let out a soft chuckle at that which quickly turned into a cough. Kim finally seemed to realize that Tommy had wrapped himself around her and stepped away from him to stand next to Jason's head, still gripping his hand between both of hers.
Jason didn't seem to notice. "If I wasn't on all these glorious painkillers right now I would totally kick your ass."
"Get in line," Tommy replied. "Adam apparently has first dibs."
"The First Jason Bank of Ass-Kicking does not recognize dibs as legal tender," Jason slurred, holding up his other hand for a second before letting it fall back to the table. "Also ow." He turned back to Kim. "Now can I have my hand back or are you going to keep molesting it? Because I will not hesitate to press charges." As these words left his mouth the Red Ranger dissolved into a fit of delirious giggles that Kim and Tommy smiled at despite themselves.
Kim pressed Jason's hand to her face again. "Sorry, Jase. The last person I held onto like this got left for dead because a certain someone couldn't do his job."
Jason's brow furrowed slightly, his doped-up brain a little slow to comprehend what Kim had just said. Tommy, however, was at no such disadvantage. He scowled at Kim. "You're not gonna let this go, are you?"
She whirled on him. "What? You leaving two incapacitated civilians in the middle of a goddamn war zone? No, something tells me that might be a little important."
Jason snorted. "Fan-fucking-tastic," he muttered under his breath. "I'm gonna have to play marriage counselor for you two again, aren't I?" They both turned and glared at him; he shrugged. "I'm just sayin', we should warn the newbies. These things never turn out well for the kids."
Kim leaned over and slapped Jason gently on the cheek. "Shut up, Mongo."
Command Center Main Chamber
Somewhere Outside Angel Grove, CA
August 28, 2012
Noon PDT
Aisha rose shakily to her feet, most of her weight still leaning on the hand Rocky had inserted under her arm. The Main Chamber had gone totally silent when she arrived; she looked up into four pairs of eyes that stared at her expectantly, searching her face for the story of where she'd just come from.
Rocky reached up and gently laid his free hand on the side of her neck. She flinched in surprise and gasped a little, grabbing his wrist and peering wide-eyed into his face.
"Sha?" He spoke so softly she could barely hear him, even from only a few inches away. She felt the slightest movement of air, his breath brushing across the flesh of her cheek, and suddenly everything came flying back and she was falling again, plummeting from thousands of feet above the Earth to save a man she'd just met, watching him slip through her fingers as she was whisked away to safety and he was left behind to die. Her eyes welled up, pools of hot tears threatening to leap free and tumble down cheeks made raw by the fierce winds.
Rocky had started to break into an exuberant smile at her presence; at the sound of the first breath catching quietly in her throat, it vanished so fast it may as well have been ripped off his face. He leaned forward until their foreheads touched and nuzzled tenderly against her.
"Jesus Christ, Aisha, what happened out there?"
She wanted to tell him. She wanted to tell all of them, let the story of how she'd failed at saving even one person come bursting out of her mouth, let the dams break and stop trying to hold the tears back any longer.
She couldn't. Something inside her fought it back, killed the words as they crossed her tongue, pushed it all down inside as though hoping if she buried it deep enough it might all go away. Aisha squeezed her eyes shut, wrangled her breathing under control, and took a single, steady step backward, disentangling herself from Rocky.
"Not now," she said calmly, her voice even to the point of monotony. She opened her eyes, ran a hand over her face, sighed, and turned on her heel. "I just have to lie down for a minute."
As she started for the door to her private quarters, Rocky followed her, grabbing her shoulder and trying to pull her gently back. She fed into the momentum he gave her and whipped herself around, throwing his hand aside.
"Aisha…" he started. She quickly cut him off.
"God damn it, Rocky, I said not now!" She practically shouted before whipping back around and storming across the room. Rocky shot Adam a look that carried a distinct message of What the hell was that? Adam could only shrug and pat Rocky reassuringly on the back as his friend jogged past him after Aisha, letting the door to the private quarters swing shut behind them.
Adam, Kat and Tanya once again found themselves alone in the Command Center, staring at each other in uncomfortable silence before Zordon finally spoke.
"Rangers," he said softly. They glanced up at him. "You should go to the Medical Bay. Your friends there need you."
"But Zordon, what about…" Adam jerked a thumb toward the door through which Rocky and Aisha had just gone.
"We must believe that together, Rocky and Aisha can get through this difficult situation. They will need each other, just as your friends need you."
Adam nodded, took Tanya's hand and led her through the doors into the main corridor; Kat hesitated, taking one last lingering look at the scene of devastation playing out on the Viewing Globe before following them out into the brightly lit hallway, wrapping her arms around herself as she went.
Rocky rounded a corner in the dimly lit hallway of bedrooms just in time to see Aisha disappearing into her room, slamming the heavy door closed behind her. He heard the resounding click of the latch sliding into place from the other side as he trotted up to the door and knocked on it softly.
"Sha, come on," he pleaded, leaning his forehead against the cold steel of the door. "Please, talk to me. I just want to help."
"What part of not now came out in fucking Swedish?" She shouted through the door. Rocky grunted in frustration and slammed his fist against the door one more time.
"God damn it –" Rocky started to scream but cut himself off and slumped against the door. He let out a long sigh and ran a hand through his hair. "You know what? You're right. I'm sorry," he said quietly. "Take as long as you want, I was just…fuck." He paused and shifted his weight uncomfortably, glancing back and forth down the hallway. Rocky cracked the knuckles of his right hand against his hip and started again. "Look, whenever you want to talk to someone, you know where to find me, OK? Anytime you want. I…" He stopped, thinking he heard something from behind the door. When the sound didn't come again, he went on. "You know I'd do anything for you, right? I just need you to be OK."
He patted the door gently with the palm of one hand and started to leave, but before he got far he turned and pressed his nose right up against the door, and spoke as though his lips were an inch from Aisha's ear.
"I love you."
No sound came from the door to indicate that she'd heard him. He patted the door one more time and started slowly back toward his room.
Command Center Medical Bay
Somewhere Outside Angel Grove, CA
August 28, 2012
12:45 PM PDT
Adam, Kat and Tanya entered the Med Bay to find Tommy still standing next to Jason while Kim had taken up vigil beside Trini, both watching silently as the machines worked tirelessly on their various injuries. Tommy looked up at them as they entered and met them halfway into the room, resting his hands on his hips and eyeing the three of them anxiously.
"Where's Rocky?"
"Aisha's back," Adam supplied. "They had issues."
Tommy raised an eyebrow just as Jason spoke up from the bed, his words still slurring together slightly. "Hey guys! If Kim and Tommy get separated who would you rather live with?"
The three of them glanced from Jason to Tommy and back. Kat smiled. "Is he high on painkillers again?" Tommy bit back a laugh and nodded.
"You're just jealous," Jason called back, his words quickly fading into a bout of laughter.
"OK, I've had just about as much of that as I can take," Billy groaned, rising to a seated position and gently pushing some machinery away. The Blue Ranger swung his feet out over the edge of the table and eased himself onto the floor. Tommy and Adam moved toward him just in case but Billy appeared to be stable. He waved them off impatiently and reached out to give Kim a hug. "Don't worry, I'm fine. I just need to stay off my feet for a few more hours and at this point I'd rather just spend it in my own bed."
"I'm glad you're all right, Billy," Kim whispered as she stepped back. Billy smiled at her and was about to respond when Jason yelled at them again.
"Billy! Dude, when I get out of here, remind me to ask you how to fix my computer, the Internet connection's gone to shit."
"I'll do that, Jase," Billy replied with a laugh.
"Uh, guys?" Everybody turned to see Tanya, who still stood in the doorway, arms wrapped around her shoulders. "Am I the only one wondering what the hell happened to Zack?"
The room instantly went silent. Kim, Tommy, Billy, Adam and Kat shared a very significant look. "I can't really blame Jason since he's high off his ass on morphine but the rest of you have no excuse. So where the hell is he?"
"Well the other two beds are empty," Kim said with dawning realization, tracing her finger absently around the room. "So that means…"
The six Rangers' eyes settled as one on the Intensive Care bed in the far corner. An immediate feeling of unease began to seep into the room; everyone present felt an unmistakable dread start to creep over them. Tommy felt his palms start to sweat; Adam swallowed hard, feeling a lump forming in his throat. Kim, Kat and Tanya felt their heartbeats start to quicken, hands rising subconsciously to their mouths. Billy blinked rapidly several times, his mouth working soundlessly as he stumbled toward the enclosed unit like a drunk.
"Oh shit," he whispered. As he approached the bed, Billy felt his knees buckle. Tommy broke from his stupor in time to catch him and maneuver the two of them into position near the small window in one side of the enclosed bed.
When the two of them finally reached it, all the others saw was Tommy almost drop Billy, his face draining completely of color as he staggered back from the table. Billy slipped free from Tommy's grip and crumpled to the floor his hands and knees, dry heaving. The others rushed in to cluster around them, none of them noticing Tommy's feeble attempt to wave them all back. When they all finally beheld what Tommy and Billy had just seen, Kat turned and bolted from the room, both hands clasped over her mouth. The others just stood frozen in horrified shock, bile rising in their stomachs as the hideous sight inside the enclosure became visible.
Zack was barely recognizable as human. He appeared to have taken a large, heavy piece of debris directly to the face; most of the skin was grated off, and even though his eyes were closed, the others could see a small piece of one eye through a jagged hole in the left eyelid. His shirt appeared to have been seared to his chest, his entire upper body consumed by blackened, blistering burns. Zack's entire upper body looked like one massive chunk of burned and mangled flesh, most of the visible skin a disgusting red color instead of its usual deep brown.
But as bad as Zack's upper body was, below the waist was worse. His lower legs were completely gone, terminating in a perfectly straight diagonal that stretched from just below his left knee to just above his right. What was left were merely bloody stumps, the dark red liquid pooling copiously beneath them; the stumps were nearly perfect cross-sections, the layers of skin, muscle and bone each clearly visible like rings in a tree stump. A closer look revealed that the same line that the stumps of Zack's legs followed carried through his right hand as well – four of his fingers were gone, his hand nothing more than a shapeless lump of flesh with a thumb protruding from it. As the Rangers stood rooted to their spots, stunned at their friend's terrible state, they could see Zack's chest rise and fall erratically; after a moment a shudder went through him and a small trickle of blood appeared in the corner of his mouth. It was only then that they were able to tear their eyes away, each of them turning to face different parts of the room and speaking to the floor.
"Jesus Christ," Tanya gasped, her voice breaking.
"W-what the hell happened t-to him?" Kim stammered, leaning forward to rest her hands on her knees.
Billy had recovered enough to grab the readout screen next to the bed and examine it closely, his hands still shaking as he scrolled through the data. He finally glanced up at his friends and said, "He's suffered severe head trauma, brain damage, internal bleeding, widespread third degree burns, and it looks like his legs were severed but the cuts are almost surgical – this wasn't just a freak accident."
"It must've been one of those green energy field thingies I saw," Kim responded, gripping a nearby desk for support.
"Guys?" Jason's voice carried none of the deliriously upbeat quality it had only a few minutes before; now it was laced with worry, tinged with a hint of oncoming panic. Tommy and Adam looked at each other and made their way slowly toward the bed.
"Hey bro," Jason said as Tommy came into view. "I must've dozed off or something, what the hell's wrong with everybody?"
"Jase…" Tommy's voice trailed off and he looked at Adam, who nodded, stepped forward and placed a hand on Jason's chest. Jason's eyes never left Tommy's; the latter boy cleared his throat and continued. "It's Zack, he…he, uh…"
"What?" Jason frantically glanced between Adam and Tommy, the painkillers lending intensity to his panic. "What happened? What's everybody so freaked out about?"
"Jase." Adam spoke so softly his voice was barely audible. Jason locked eyes with him and pleaded silently for the merciful lie.
Adam couldn't bring himself to tell it. "It's bad, Jason." He looked up at Billy, who nodded and pinched the bridge of his nose. "It's really bad. He…" Adam's voice broke, a sob threatening to break through; he drew in a hitched breath and let the word hang in the air.
"Let me up," Jason growled, all signs of the drug high completely gone. Adam and Tommy looked at each other and back at the young man in red who lay before them. Both shook their heads. "Let. Me. The fuck. UP." Jason demanded, trying to rise to a sitting position. Adam pushed down harder on his chest, keeping him down on the bed. Suddenly, Jason started thrashing wildly, his back arching, his arms tugging at the restricting machinery, fighting fiercely against Adam's weight in a frenzied battle to get off of the bed.
"Jason, come on, you have to stay down," Adam pleaded, pushing as hard as he could. Jason somehow managed to remove an IV from somewhere on his body and set off a piercing alarm from the surrounding equipment. "Tommy, god damn it, help me!"
"Tommy!" Tommy jerked his head around in time to catch the syringe Billy had tossed at him. Not even bothering to check the label on the hypodermic, Tommy yanked the cap off and pushed down on Jason's right leg.
"Sorry bro," he said gravely, and jabbed the needle into Jason's thigh. The effect was almost immediate: the strength of Jason's struggles quickly faded, and the Red Ranger collapsed back onto the bed, groaning softly, his head lolling to one side. Adam released the pressure on Jason's chest and reinserted the IV needle, panting with exertion and residual shock.
Just as Jason's eyes slid closed again, another alarm filled the Medical Bay, emanating directly from the Intensive Care bed. Kim took a staggering step backward toward the door, her face growing pale. Tanya shook her head desperately, tears already beginning to flow as her mouth began soundlessly forming the words, no, no, no. Adam ran a hand over his face, unable to move from his spot near Jason's table. Tommy felt his heart start racing; his mouth went dry and his knees suddenly felt weak.
As they all gradually overcame their shocked paralysis, everyone in the room eventually zeroed in on Billy, who grabbed the data screen and read over it slowly. Nobody in the room had ever heard this alarm before, but somehow, every single one of them knew exactly what it meant.
Billy confirmed their fears a moment later when he shoved the screen away and wiped his eyes with one hand; he raised his head and looked at his friends through bloodshot eyes that were welling up with tears and spoke in a voice both clinically emotionless and brimming with barely restrained despair. "It was too much," Billy said, his eyes looking everywhere but at the bed. "His brain was too badly damaged, his burns were infected, he lost way too much blood…" The Blue Ranger helplessly turned the screen toward his friends to show them what he'd just seen. "Zero brain activity. His heart's stopped beating." Billy shuddered and finally met his friends' eyes as he delivered the most devastating news any of them had ever gotten.
"He's gone."