Mariner Bay, California
As the shadows began to creep out of the alleys into the city, high above a cloaked figure leaped from one roof to another and continued to run without missing a stride. The mere physique of the figure indicated it was a woman, perhaps no bigger than 5'2 or 5'3 with a slender build that was clearly built for agility and speed over brawn and brute force. As the buildings edge quickly approached, she caught the edge, pushed off and cleared the almost seven foot gap in a single leap. Catching the edge above her, she easily hoisted herself up and was off again.
However, the woman stopped when she heard the sound of a jeep approached. She moved to the edge, careful to conceal herself in the shadows, and peered down to see a red and black jeep speeding down the street. The driver was tall, handsome, chiseled features and short, sandy brown hair while the other man was a bit shorter, Asian with jet black hair. Frankly, she didn't care who these people were: she was interested in only one thing.
Reaching into the her cloak, she drew out a small device with a single ear piece. The device activated with a soft, almost inaudible bleep and put in the ear piece. Pointing it towards the car, she listened.
"That's a confirmation, Sir. We have the device. Prepare for pick up." The sandy haired man spoke as he stepped on the gas pedal.
"Perfect." The woman thought and tossed the device away and lifted her arm. There, strapped firmly to her left wrist… was a damaged and worn morpher. "Lucky I found this thing on that derelict ship otherwise this might be a little harder. Only one use… I have to make this count." Flipping the lid of the morpher, she pressed the signature buttons: 3-3-5. "Let's Rocket…"
She leaped forward off the building as the car came into her range. As she fell, she shifted her weight into a flip and the instant before the car would pass by, she landed in the back of the jeep causing it bounce and swerve. Carter compensated for the sudden, drastic shift in weight and moment as Chad braced himself for impact. As the car swerved left and began to tip, the woman grabbed the jet black case and leaped off. She hit the ground in a roll and quickly came to her feet. She looked back to see Carter and Chad were standing as well, having managed to escape the jeep before it rolled.
"STOP!" Carter howled as the woman snarled and took off into the ally. "Carter Grayson requesting immediate back up from Aquabase! The package has been lost! I repeat, the package has been lost! We're in pursuit of the individual through the alley onto Marine Street heading north!" He and Chad pulled their sleeves up to reveal the Lightspeed Morphers beneath. "LIGHTSPEED… RESCUE!"
The Polycarbonate Armor coiled around their bodies and the instant it reached Carter's foot, he unleashed a burst of energy throughout his body that increased his speed ten-fol. He back a streak of red and white energy and came to a sliding stop before the cloaked figure.
"Damn it! Your powers are already updated?!" She snarled and looked back as Chad raised his pistol. "Christ… I didn't go back in time far enough…"
Carter blanched at her words and tilted his head. "Back in time? What the hell do you mean?"
However, she said nothing more and mere answered with a snarl. She shot a quick glance over her shoulder at Chad… and moved. She leaped into a cartwheel flip as Chad shifted his stance to adjust but it was too late. She had already drawn her Astro Blaster and fired. The bolt hit Chad in the chest, knocking him backwards and into the wall. She landed in a crouch and turned to fire at Chad, but he moved with incredible speed again and disarmed her with a quick flick of the wrist. He reached for briefcase but she jerked back and caught him across the jaw with a vicious left hook. She moved to reacquire her pistol but a well-placed shot from Chad blasted it away. Drawing back, she heard the soft crack behind her and quickly turned catching Carter's leg in her left hand and used a sweeping right roundhouse to knock his other foot out.
Another shot from Chad went wide of the Figure's face and she recoiled backwards in response. Spinning around, she dodged another pair of bolts and dropped into a crouch to dodge the last. Materializing in her left hand… was the spiraling weapon of Space Red: The Drill Saber. One quick sweep of the blade deflected a pair of shot's while the third reflected it back at Chad. He dodge rolled into the alleyway as the bolt blasted away a chunk of brick and mortar.
"Who… ARE YOU?!" Carter hissed and lunged forward with a superman punch but she duck-and-weaved to her right as his fist slid by. She brought the Drill Saber down hard across his side, spraying sparks everywhere, and put Carter to the floor.
"Freeze." Came a female voice as the Figure stopped. "Drop the saber and hands up."
She slowly lifted her hands and dropped the saber as the Ranger Energy fizzled… and finally faded from her body. "Damn it…" She thought and slowly looked back at her captures: Dana and Ryan Mitchell, Kelsey Winslow, and Joel Rawlings: the rest of Lightspeed Rescue.
"Kelsey, grab the briefcase. Ryan, cuff this bitch." Dana ordered as the woman felt the briefcase be ripped from her hands. "Who are you? Who sent you?"
When Ryan reached for her hand, for the woman time seemed to slow down in that very instant. And in that moment, she moved again. She spun around with incredible speed and pushed the blaster away as it fired. The bolt streaked across Ryan's face, searing away flesh as his scream filled the air. A sharp right uppercut to the left armpit sent a shockwave of paralyzing pain down her arm and snapping left knee to the liver hit with not only enough force to rupture the liver but also push the organ's back just far enough they actually touched her lungs. As Dana slumped forward, the woman used her as a platform and kicked off her towards Kelsey who had spun around and in the middle of drawing her pistol.
To shots from Chad and Carter went wide of the woman as she came down with a vicious axe-handle Kelsey's left shoulder it actually broke her collar bone. As the gun dropped towards the ground, the woman duked left and pushed the unmorphed Yellow Ranger into the oncoming fire of Carter and Chad – each one missing thankfully – while simultaneously recapturing the briefcase.
With her free hand – her right – and a dagger fell from her sleeve into her hand, and when time finally returned to normal, she brought it Kelsey's throat.
That brought Chad and Carter to a stop.
"Drop the pistols and demorph or slit her throat." The woman ordered as Kelsey whimpered lightly. Carter snarled and nodded to Chad. Their pistols dropped to the ground and the energy faded from their bodies. "Now kick the guns into the alleyway!" Again, they did as they were asked – begrudgingly. "Thank you." The woman spun into a back kick that hit Kelsey in the lower back and threw her forward. As she completed her spin, the woman threw the knife into Chad's right hand with such accuracy that it actually pinned the hand to his body. Carter caught Kelsey before she could fall and when he finally drew his own back up… the woman, and the other jeep… were gone.
Gone… with the Prototype.
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A/N: Yeah I was gone for a while. Let's just say I had some other things to do, writers block and not in the PR mood, I had no desire to write this story. However, I've got a bit of the mood back so lemme know what you think of THIS turn of events!
