CHAPTER 7

"Wake up little red." A voice called through the darkness. "Hmmm. Maybe I hit him too hard." There was feminine laughter, "Do you think that I did, Nurse Betty?" another voice, more distant responded, but he couldn't hear it. "What's the prog-no-sis, Doctor?"

"Leave him alone!"

"Wakey uppy little red." The voice continued, slowly pulling him towards the light, "Your girlfriends getting jittery."

"Carter!"

"Dana." he murmured, jolting awake. He raised his head; he was on the edge of some kind of pit… with Dana hanging above the inky black water. "Dana!" he yelled, trying to rush forward, but his hands were tied to some kind of metal rod above him.

"Carter!" Dana yelled, her face lighting up at seeing him awake, "Are you okay?"

"Okay?" Carter almost laughed… almost, "Dana what's going on?"

"Ooooh! I'll answer!" The Red Ranger danced into his vision, she seemed to be smirking at him from underneath her helmet, "We're going to play a game."

"I don't play games with psychopaths." Carter spat out, twisting his hands and testing the ropes.

"Wrong answer!" The Red Ranger said gleefully, she walked over to the edge, looking down, then she turned back to him. "If you get free and attack me, I might lose my concentration." She warned, looking up at Dana meaningfully. Carter followed her helmeted gaze; the rope holding Dana up was attached to some kind of pulley system, which was being held up by… nothing.

"Dana!" he yelled again, she gulped holding his gaze. They gazed at each other for a moment, and then Carter turned to the Red Ranger, "What's this game?"

"Ah, now we're listening." She waved a hand, and a screen appeared above their heads, "You're a pretty tough guy, Grayson, emotion wise. Obviously not physically, 'cus I could beat you with a butter knife." She giggled as Carter growled.

"What's the game?" he spat.

"I'm getting there." The Red Ranger looked at the screen, and suddenly it split up into seven mini-screens, circling around the room. Carter watched with a wary eye as one finally came to rest in front of them. "As a fireman you save lives on a regular basis, as a Power Ranger, you do the same thing. So this is a pretty routine game for you."

"Playing with lives isn't a game to me."

"Touché." The Red Ranger murmured, "See that's why I like you, you dish it out to the bad guys even when your teammates are in danger, even when your true love is in danger." Suddenly Dana let out a cry of surprise and fear as she dropped closer to the water.

"Dana!" Carter yelled, straining against the ropes. The inky black water looked deadly, it would not be good if she dropped.

"Oops, lost my concentration for a minute." The screen flickered in front of them as the other six circled around the room; "You met Nick, right?" suddenly Nick appeared on the screen leading a fumbling woman through the tunnel. "Aww isn't that cute? He's helping a blind Madison." She waved her hand, "Dana's met her, haven't you Dana?"

"Yes." Dana nodded, swallowed "She's a nice girl, with her whole life ahead of her. You have no right-" then she let out a yelp, as she dropped another foot.

"Mmmm, yes." The Red Ranger rubbed the chin of her helmet, "I forgot to mention what it is exactly that you're hanging over. It's water, to be sure. But if anything disturbs the water… well… I suppose I'll leave it to your imagination. Could be that electricity will electrocute anything that touches it, could be something a bit more… lively." She shrugged, "Who knows."

"The game." Carter snapped, trying to get her attention off of Dana.

"Yes yes." The Red Ranger waved her hand dismissively, the screens rotated, showing Andros and Ashley next, then Vida and Xander, one couple after another flashed before Carter's eyes. There was Sky carry Syd, Blake desperately trying to keep Tori awake, Taylor struggling forward with Eric, Jen lying motionless on a slab, all of them were spread out before him… all except-

"Where are Jason and Tommy?"

"Ever the eye for detail." The Red Ranger laughed, and Dana held her breath expecting another drop, but the Red Ranger surprised her, "Don't worry Dana, it was a good question that I'm not going to lose concentration over." She shook her head, her shoulders suddenly drooped, and Carter suddenly realized he was getting a rare glimpse of the women behind the helmet, the women who might actually contain a conscious. The women who would let them go, the women who never would have done this in the first place.

"The original rangers." There was a small smile in her tone, and then she shook her head again, "In my opinion, they've been through enough."

"You let them go?" Carter asked, shocked.

"No." The Red Ranger tapped her helmet, "You're getting a little too nosy. They're safe. That's all you need to know."

"What are you going to do with the rest of us?" Dana asked, "Torture us?"

"I did that already," The Red Ranger voice became threatening, she squared her shoulders, "To some of you."

"What's the game?" Carter persisted before she 'lost' concentration.

"Oh yes." She turned back to him, "It's quite simple. You answer the questions I ask you, and you and your friends will proceed to the final round. You lie to me, and not only will this break my concentration, but one by one your friends will fail." She cocked her helmeted head, "And many cannot afford to fail." Tori's picture rotated past then Syd's.

"What have you done?" Dana asked, seeing the pale Wind Ninja Ranger.

"Death spell." The Red Ranger said simply, and then blew her off, "What's it going to be little red?"

"I…" Carter looked up at Dana, then sighed, "Well I don't really have a choice, do I?"

"Very good. Let's begin." She locked her hands behind her back, turning fully to look at him. "We'll start out simple. What is Dana's father's favorite color?"

"Captain Mitchell?"

"Wrong." She laughed, "That's not even a color." Dana dropped another foot, and suddenly the picture of Nick and Madison began to shake, as the two were suddenly caught in a minor cave-in.

"No no no! Stop!" Carter yelled.

"Red! Carter it's red!" Dana screamed as rocks from the ceiling began hammering at the Mystic Rangers.

"Tick tock tick tock." The Red Ranger chanted as Dana dropped yet another foot.

"Red!" Carter shouted out, straining hard against the ropes.

"Correct." The cave-in stopped the dust clearing to reveal Nick wrapped around the Blue Mystic Ranger, protecting her from the falling debris. "Do you understand the game?" Carter nodded, then the Red Ranger turned to Dana. "No helping." She waved a finger at her as if berating a child. Dana gulped, and bobbed her head in agreement. She turned back to a pale Carter.

"Next question."

--

Wes had landed hard, but bruises he could handle, it was the fact that he and Jen were separated, again, that was emotionally staggering. He was trapped in some kind cage when Jen was injured, possibly dying for all he knew. He got up slowly, taking in his surroundings. He was in a suspended cage, and below him was… mist. Great, he couldn't even see what was below him. He sat down, knowing there was no point in attempting to escape until he could see what was what.

"Jen." He moaned quietly to himself. He couldn't afford to wait, she was hurt, he could feel it. He should've contacted the future as soon as Eric was caught, but she had implied that she already had captured Jen at that point. He should've called, then maybe he could've told her he was fine; the Red Ranger hadn't gotten him. Then maybe the Red Ranger wouldn't have gotten her. He glanced down at the swirling mist; there was something about this that was tickling his memory. He sighed; it was probably nothing, just him trying to find nonexistent clues that would tell him exactly why the Red Ranger was doing this.

He was just getting up to survey his cage a little more, when the shakes started. The whole cavern shook, like an earthquake. He fell back down to the floor of his cage, grabbing the bars to steady himself. Suddenly his cage shook harder, and Wesley glanced up, a sudden feeling of dread consuming him.

"Uh oh." He said, seeing that the metal in the ceiling that was holding his cage up was working it's way out. He looked down; there was no way to tell what kind of drop it was. If the shakes didn't stop soon, he was in big trouble. They stopped, and he released a huge sigh of relief, allowing himself to relax.

--

"Just kidding Carter. You're still wrong." The Red Ranger laughed as the picture of Wes in the cage began to shake again.

--

Wes landed hard, but bruises he could handle. However this was not like the first drop he experienced. Not only did the cage fall, taking him with it, but also a nice chunk of the ceiling came down with him. He didn't think he fell very far, but then again, he was still doing inventory on his body parts. Nothing seemed broken, that was a definite plus, it was mostly the surprise of the sudden earthquake and the even more sudden fall that had his heart rate up. He slowly stood up, doing another quick check-up on his bruises. He had a couple more, he was going to be black and blue in a few hours, but he could handle it.

The door to his cage was open, that was the important part, and it looked like the mist, serving it's purpose of keeping him in the cage, was beginning to clear so it only swirled around his feet. That was a plus. Now, he could find Jen and the other rangers. He walked out, looking around the cavern. Then his heart stopped again.

"Jen." He whispered, for there she was across the room from him, lying lifeless on the cold slab of a table. "Jen!" he called a bit louder, running over to her. The mist swirled around his feet, causing his toes to go numb, but he didn't care, he didn't even feel it. "Jen." He repeated, as he reached her. He put his hand on her neck, feeling for a pulse. It was there, but it was faint.

"Captive J is in a coma." A robot slid up to him, he looked up at it, judging whether it was going to harm him or his.

"Who are you?" he asked, his fingers working on warming Jen's.

"Robot SL 2801." The robot replied, "I was sent to tell you that Captive J is in a coma."

"Sent?"

"By my master."

"The Red Ranger." He kept his tone even.

"Yes. She is otherwise preoccupied, or she would inform you herself." The robot cocked its head; "You are one of the few she wishes…" it trailed off, suddenly looking uncomfortable.

"Wishes what?" Wes was curious now, "What does she wish?"

"She believes that you two have been through enough. Unfortunately she cannot let you leave until certain… aspects of her mission are met."

"Jen needs medical attention."

"She will be provided for." The robot turned to walk away, "I will give you privacy."

"Wait." Wes called, glancing down at Jen's lifeless face, "Tell me more about this mission."

"I cannot."

"Then tell me why she feels we've been through enough." Wes was trying hard to fight his frustration, "I mean we already figured out that it's because I'm in love with her!" he gestured at Jen.

"Yes." The robot nodded, "And my master is working to make it be."

"Make what be?" Wes stroked Jen's cheek, "I don't quite understand."

"It is not for you to understand." The robot began to walk away, then it stopped, "She wants me to inform you…" there was a buzzing sound, then a click, "Jennifer is in a coma. You must get her to the… final showdown." Then, right before Wes's eyes, it faded away, as if it never existed. Across the room the mist swirled, and a door opened.

"Okay Jen." Wes gazed into her still face, "We're going to go find out what's what." He smoothed her hair back, feeling helpless. Then he swallowed and scooped her up, heading towards the door, and the 'final showdown'.

--

"Nick?" Maddie croaked as the dust settled. She felt a weight on her body. "Nick what happened?" she reached up, and felt something wet and sticky on a soft surface. "Nick?" she asked again, more panicked now. Please no. "Nick?" she sat up slowly, feeling around with her hands. They seemed to be surrounded by rock… a cave-in? She closed her useless eyes, remembering the shaking, then Nick's yelling, then someone, Nick, throwing themselves on top of her… the rocks must have fallen, Nick must have protected her from the falling rocks.

She reached her hands forward, feeling an arm, then shoulders, then a face. Nick's face. That's where the sticky stuff had come from, Nick's head. His eyes were closed, but… Maddie grabbed his wrist with her other hand, then let out a sigh of relief. Heartbeat was strong; he just had a bump on the head… that was it. She wished desperately she had her wand, wished desperately that she could see just how bad the damage was. But for now, all she could do was lift Nick's head into her lap, and wait for him to wake up. Because he had to wake up, he would wake up. There was no other option.

"Please." She whispered to him, "Please Nick. Please wake up. I won't be able to make it if you're gone." She fought back tears, babbling now, "Can you believe we fought the Master, just so we could get captured by some rogue ranger?" she rested her head on his forehead, needing to feel the contact. Please…

--

"Trakeena?! I don't know!" Carter yelled as Tori lay shaking in the screen above their heads.

"She can't take much more." The Red Ranger warned, "Blake can't either." The Navy Ranger was practically in tears, not knowing how to help the seizing Wind Ranger.

"That one monster that mind-wiped us!" Carter finally screamed. The Red Ranger shrugged.

"I'll take it." She waved her hand, and Tori immediately stilled. "Next question."

"How many more questions are there?" Carter whispered, his head hung low. He had already seen Andros suffocated, Xander beaten, Syd's heart had stopped, and Eric had hallucinated to the point where he almost destroyed Taylor. There was no one left, and to top it off Dana hung a mere five feet above the black water.

"I suppose we'll move on to the final round." The Red Ranger said.

"Thank god." Dana breathed, the tears still fresh on her face. But she kept her gaze on Carter, trying to send him all the support she could. This was taking it's toll on him, and Dana knew that not only could their friends not handle anymore, but neither could Carter. He would never forgive himself, never. The look on Sky's face alone when Syd had 'died' would haunt both of them until they were dead.

"Last question."

--

"Andros!" Ashley yelled as he collapsed to the ground. His poor throat was raw; he had clawed at it to the point where he was drawing blood, trying to fight off the unseen enemy choking him.

"Ashley." He croaked, "What-"

"Don't." Ashley replied, putting a finger against his lips, "Rest your throat." He nodded, gasping for breath. "It must have been the Red Ranger, but I don't see how…"

"Magic." Andros breathed, closing his eyes.

"I've…" she grabbed him in a hug, burying her face in his chest, "I've never been so scared. We were walking, and then you were gasping… I… I didn't know what to do-"

"Ash." Andros stroked her hair, his voice raspy, "I'm fine. I just want to know what set it off." Ashley nodded, staying in his embrace for one more second, before pulling away,

"I just don't want to lose you." She admitted.

"You won't. I promise." He gave her his best smile. "After all I survived Karone." He tried to joke, but Ashley could see the lingering pain from that encounter still in his eyes.

"Right." She wiped the tears off of her cheeks; grateful for a small moment that he was blind… he couldn't see her crying. "Let's get the heck out of here."

--

"Agh!" Eric yelled, clutching his head and falling to his knees. He blinked, the monster was gone… he was back in the tunnel. His stomach dropped, Taylor. He looked around wildly, and then saw her. She was curled up against the wall of the tunnel, watching him with a wary eye.

"Eric?" she asked, "Are you back?" he nodded, trying to talk past the lump in his throat. She had a fresh bruise on her cheek. From him. He gazed at his hands in horror. He was turning into his father…

"I did that?" he nodded toward her, his voice coming out all gravelly from emotion.

"I wasn't fast enough." Taylor shrugged, "What happened? One minute we're trucking along, the next you're yelling and fighting me off."

"I hit you."

"Yeah well, I should've figured something was off when you started going on about a monster." She laughed, "Guess I thought I was having a bad hair day."

"I hit you." Eric repeated, just staring at the mark on her cheek.

"Eric," She kneeled down beside him, "I take hits all the time." She waved her morpher in his face, "Hello, Power Ranger!

"Yeah, but I hit you." He targeted his gaze to the floor. Taylor watched him carefully.

"You're not your father." She finally said, his eyes shot up to meet hers, "The Red Ranger was messing with you. It wasn't your fault. You are not your father."

"Taylor-"

"No listen," she took a deep breath, "I know you would never hurt me like that. You're Eric Myers, Quantum Ranger. You're argumentative, hardheaded, and can be an overall jerk sometimes, but I trust you with my life. You'd never hit me on purpose. Got it?" she stared him down until he nodded, "Good. Now let's get out of here."

--

Sydney. Sydney. Sydney. Sky was on his knees, not noticing the mud, not noticing the cold, with his head buried in Syd's perfect hair. Syd. Syd. Syd. He didn't even know he was crying. He couldn't feel anything but his own relief and heartbreak. He almost lost her. Syd. She had almost died in his arms. He was just walking, listening for guards or the Red Ranger, when he just happened to glance down at Syd. Happened to notice that she wasn't breathing, happened to see that she didn't have a heartbeat. Who knows how long she was like that, without him even noticing? He was so concentrated on getting out of there, getting his hands on the Red Ranger, so concentrated on his mission that he hadn't even noticed when she stopped breathing.

Oh god, he couldn't lose her. He just couldn't. She had always done so much for him, had always been there for him, and he had almost lost her. She had almost died in his arms. First his dad, then Syd… no. Syd was alive, she was breathing again. His own breath suddenly hitched, realization dawning, his injuries that she'd taken weren't that severe. She wasn't losing blood; her heart wouldn't just stop like that. The veil seemed to be pulled from his eyes, the Red Ranger did this. He knew it with absolute certainty. She had almost killed Syd. His Syd. He slowly lifted his head, the burning fear and grief was slowly replaced with rage. Sky welcomed the change. He could work with rage. He'd worked with rage for half of his career as the Blue Ranger of SPD before finally coming to terms with Jack, and his own failings.

Oh yeah, he knew exactly what to do with his rage. Oh Syd…

--

"Ow!" Xander cried as Vida tried to help him up, "Geez, V, be careful!"

"Sorry, sorry!" Vida stammered, closer to hysteria then she'd ever been in her whole life. He just started convulsing as some unseen, unknown enemy began beating the stuffing out of him. As it was, one of his stitches had popped out, he was slowly getting a black eye, and Vida had to stand there and watch it, unable to do anything. She'd tried to. God knows she tried to fight his invisible attacker, but nothing was there. There was nobody for her to punch. So she'd been forced to stand by and watch while Xander was kicked and punched, unable to do anything to help him.

"We're good." He breathed out, as they finally go him upright, but he was definitely leaning heavily on Vida, "Yeah. I'm good."

"Don't lie to me Xander."

"I'm not lying." Xander protested, as they continued down the tunnel. He was limping heavily now, "I'm just stretching the truth." He offered her a lopsided smile, then winced.

"Why would she do this?" Vida growled, as they struggled on. Xander just looked at her.

"Why'd you make that deal?" he stopped, waiting for her to answer.

"The same reason you made yours." Vida replied quietly.

"V…." he was filled with bubbly happiness, "When-"

"Matoombo." She answered with a smile; "You helped me, even when you didn't agree with me." He lowered his head to hers.

"It was right after the vampire incident for me." He grinned at her, "You scared me so bad…"

"Not as half as much as you're scaring me right now." Vida growled back, "How dare she do this!"

"You can beat her up later." Xander grimaced, "Let's just find the others and get out of here."

"Agreed."

--

"Blake." Tori croaked out, "I want you… to give the guys a message for me..."

"You're not going to die Tori." Blake snapped back, "Don't even talk like that." He looked around the tunnel, and then looked back at her, "I'm not going to let you die, okay? You're not going to die." He scooped her up in his arms from where he had set her down during her seizure. She couldn't take much more, he got that, realized it, accepted it. But by god, he could still save her.

"Blake." She croaked out again, as he continued determinedly down the tunnel, "I… want them to know… they were in my last thoughts… love them."

"Don't fall asleep on me, Tor." Blake felt the tears pricking his eyes, but he ruthlessly blinked them back, "Tell me what happened when you fought the Red Ranger." He had to keep her awake… he knew instinctively that if she fell asleep, she wouldn't wake up. He'd lose her.

"The… fight." She repeated slowly, "Dana and Kat went down first… Maddie and Andros got hit with some kind of eye spell… they didn't have a chance after that. Once Maddie went down, Xander went after her with a vengeance…. He kept going… even when he lost his morph…. I remember seeing him down on the ground… I think he was bleeding… then this huge shadow came out of her…" there were tears in her eyes now, "It picked me up… then it disappeared… it hurt so bad… I just remember hearing someone screaming…" she looked up at Blake, tears rolling down her cheeks, "I think it was me…" she whispered, "I think I was the one screaming…"

--

"Last question." The Red Ranger whisked the screens away, "For the emotionally stinted Red Ranger." She walked up, so she was helmet to nose with Carter, "You're worse than Andros really."

"Ask." Carter growled, testing the ropes. The Red Ranger leaned forward,

"Do." She whispered, "You. Love. Dana?" Carter froze, and Dana began dropping inch by inch toward the water.

"Carter?" She called, but Carter couldn't hear her, his ears were buzzing, his heart thumping too loud to hear anything. Then, it stopped, as Carter finally admitted to himself what he never could when they were rangers.

"Yes." He whispered, his head held high, "I do."

"You win the game." The Red Ranger murmured, as Dana stopped just a mere foot above the water, "You'll advance to the final round." Carter closed his eyes, grateful that it was almost over. "Good luck." She disappeared just as the ropes that held Carter's hands did. He was free.

Then Dana dropped into the water.

--

--

A/N Thanks to Pinkranger888, Ms. Fairweather and Original-Red-Pink-4ever for reviewing! Just a mere two more chapters after this one! Who could the Red Ranger possibly be?! Keep reviewing, I really appreciate your thoughts!