Chapter Six: Defrosting Grudge
Emma Chou couldn't believer her eyes.
The boy in front of her who had informed everyone that he had seen the Orange Ultra Ranger in action…was actually the Orange Ultra Ranger. It was something that had come totally out of left field and was a stark contrast to the somewhat withdrawn persona he had built around himself. As the redhead girl tried to push her to the park near the school, she felt her blood start to boil in anger. The events that had happened on that fateful day were forcefully brought up to the forefront of her mind as she saw the two giants locked in combat literally right in front of her. She could tell Bree was screaming at her to move but her limbs wouldn't respond. Suddenly, she found herself lifted off the ground by a beam of light that had come from the machine of the Ranger. A second of dizziness later and she blinked upon finding herself in the middle of the park next to Stanton Library. A few other flashes of light later and the other seven girls appeared.
"What the heck was that?"
"Teleportation beam. Good for getting us out of the way so he can let loose."
Emma nodded at that explanation but her anger and frustration remained. The Orange Ranger had been practically in front of her the entire morning…and if she were to expose his identity then he would be hounded by the media everywhere he went. A small smile crept over her face at the thought of seeing his face plastered all over the newspapers and being forced to account for all of his actions. So caught up in her fantasy of exposing his identity was she that she never saw the concerned looks of Liz, Bec and Bree. He would be forced in front of the Prime Minister and be given the ultimatum he had wriggled himself free from – to serve the Australian Government or be shot on sight. In that scenario, there would be nowhere he could hide; especially as the location of their base had been narrowed down to a few hundred kilometres. A good carpet bombing would take care of the menace once and for all and would force them off the planet where their enemies would follow.
But what if they didn't follow?
She frowned at the wayward thought and sat down on the edge of a decorative fountain. She knew herself better than anyone around her and knew that there had been a time when she had looked up to the Ultra Rangers; where she thought of them as the saviours of humanity along with the other Rangers. Once, she would have even said that she would jump at the chance to become one of them. If the enemies of the Ultra Rangers didn't follow them into space, the people of Earth would be well and truly screwed. The Power Rangers could only fight for so long and, if she did expose the identities of the Ultra Rangers, may not even want to be involved either. There was no doubt in her mind that Rangers always stuck together and covered for each other. The battle two years ago had cemented that fact in everyone's minds as they saw the images of public-identity Rangers fighting against the secretive Morphin and Zeo Rangers.
She knew all of this and yet, she couldn't forgive the strongest Rangers on Earth for not being there when the people of Earth needed them the most. When the planes had struck, her life had been changed forever and it had only been for the split-second decision of her mother that she was still able to be alive. Well, some of the thanks could also be directed to the Green Lightspeed Ranger and the repurposed Monster Shelter he had hooked on to his Zord. In her darkest nightmares, she was still on the roof of the North Tower but the Green Ranger wasn't there. The floor would buckle under her feet and she could see the flying Zord just starting to come up…but she would be falling down all the way…until she woke up in a cold sweat. She knew it was only doe to the heroic actions of the Power Rangers that she was able to live but she had lost her parents and her brother. No matter how hard she tried to rationalise whatever reason her mind came up with, the fact of the matter was that the Ultra Rangers hadn't been there to protect the citizens of the world.
"Whatever you're thinking, stop. Just look at him before you judge."
Emma looked up at the voice to see Liz looking at her intently. Shaking her head, she continued to look away from the battle as the sounds were all the confirmation she needed that everything was going well. Hearing the other girl sigh in frustration, her field of vision suddenly and jerkily changed from the ground at her feet to the Zord battle. Emma's eyes widened as she saw the amount of damage that the Dinozord had sustained in a relatively short amount of time; almost like a mirror of the actions of the Orange Ranger moments earlier. As she registered the delicate way the massive Zord stepped around the battlefield, she slowly realised that Weihan was trying to avoid causing unnecessary damage, at the cost of the monster slowly destroying the Zord.
"See that? I know you have issues with the Ultra Rangers not being there for your family but instead of coming up with outlandish solutions to the questions in your mind, won't it be better to ask the Leader directly? I'm guessing it would be so easy for him to let loose on the monster and not care about the surrounding areas. So why isn't he?"
Liz shook her head and released her grip on Emma's head. As expected, the Asian girl dropped her head to the ground once more and she sighed. She knew not all of them were accepting the shocking fact that one of their class mates was the Orange Ranger but, well, it was to be expected. Possibly the only ones who were taking it rather well besides her were Bec, Jorja and Bree. Daphne was staring at the behemoth battle in front of her with the blonde, Phoebe Tyker, and the brown haired girl, Tara Lin. Looking up at a strange crackle of energy, her mouth dropped open as she saw the mighty Utahraptor Dinozord transform into its Warrior mode and settle into an offensive stance. Carefully, she pulled Emma off her perch and crouched low to the ground. Something was about to happen and it was going to happen soon.
"Fire Cataclysm!"
Blinking at the voice echoing over the sounds of battle, she watched the Utahraptor warrior transform its tail arm into a segmented whip and pull its arm back. With all the speed of a striking cobra, it lashed out to wrap around the mid-section of the monster. With equal amounts of speed and force, the Zord catapulted the screaming monster into the air and ignited its whip. One fluid motion later and the monster's scream abruptly cut off as it was consumed by a roaring fireball. The Zord stood triumphant for a few moments before vanishing in a streak of fire.
"Well, that plan went to shit rather quickly."
Turning at the voice, Emma's eyes bugged out as she saw Weihan emerge from an underground tunnel and she seethed with rage as Liz, Bree and Bec went to check if he was all right. Waving them away, the Asian boy motioned all of them close and looked around for onlookers or wayward cameras. It surprised her a bit that she was thinking about things like that but brushed it off as a product of seeing the battle up close. Satisfied that there were no onlookers, he walked towards the fountain and looked up at the slowly dissipating smoke from the monster. After a moment, he spoke.
"What if I told you that I could grant you the power to save your friends, family and planet? Would you take the chance to become something greater than you are now?"
He paused to let the words sink in before reaching into the inner pocket of his jacket. Pulling out his hand, Emma saw seven coins made of a strange clear crystal she had never seen before. One of the coins that held a faint emerald sparkle seemed to call to her with the promise of great power. She saw flashes of images in her minds eye of a Green Ranger standing on top of a building watching a battle raging around her. A split second after the image flashed up, she saw an image of six horses in Ranger gear charging toward an enemy. Curiously, she saw the same Green Ranger next to them, as well as other similarly attired Rangers. A split second later and she had returned to North Sydney. She could tell that most of the others had the same experience…except for Bree, who was staring at Weihan with a mix of shock and incredulity on her face. He nodded once and mouthed something at her before turning back to them and delivering his bombshell.
"I can make you Crystal Rangers."
TBC…
