CH 9. RANSOM
Sky stared at his father. Wes looked at Sky with a guilty look on his face. "Sky, let me explain." He said.
Sky didn't wait to listen, belting him in the cheek. Wes turned his head back to Sky. "I deserve that." He said. Sky punched him again for good measure.
"I can't believe you. You fake being dead and you come right out of the blue to see me." He shouted.
"Actually Cadet Tate, I called him and told him what happened to Myers' parents. He insisted that he come over and help." Cruger explained. Sky growled, going to belt Wes again, suddenly Kyle grabbed his fist.
"Look, I don't care what family problems you two have, but Wes is like family to me. If you wanna fight someone then let's tangle." He said, staring him in the eye. Sky put his hand down and turned away from Wes.
After Kyle filled him in on what happened the team regrouped. Jessica and a now clean shaven, rejuvenated James joined them.
"Dr. Zavier, if we could get the vials my parents are in, could we reverse the effects?" Kyle asked. James stroked his chin for a minute and thought. "There might be a way if we could construct a life size mold capable of solidifying liquid into human form…" Bridge went to the wall and did his handstand.
"What is he doing?" Kyle asked. Z smirked. "You'll see, just give him a second" She said. Bridge stood up after awhile.
"We have something like that, the synthesis machines. I use it all the time to make buttered toast. All we need is a bigger one." He said. James eyes lit up. "Brilliant!" he shouted.
Cruger nodded. "You two get to work on that. The rest of you stay alert. Blackland will not give up now that the truth is out, dismissed." He said.
Later, Sky sat on his bed in his room. Wes knocked on the door before the door slid open.
"May I come in?" He asked. Sky turned away. "Do whatever you want 'Wes'." He muttered. Wes stepped in and saw the picture of him and Sky as a kid.
"Ugh, I can't believe how fat I look in this picture." He joked. Sky said nothing as he crossed his arms and stared out the window.
Wes picked up the faded Time Force helmet and looked at it. "I'm surprised you have this. I see they cleaned the blood stains off the visor. I wonder if it still fits." He said.
"I cleaned it up." Sky said finally. Wes looked at him. "It finally speaks. Well, that's a start." He said.
"What do you want from me? If you came in here to patch things up and be a father, you're 16 years too late." Sky said, getting up.
"Look Sky, I had to retire. Mirloc never killed me." Wes said. Sky rolled his eyes. "Here I thought you were one healthy corpse." He said.
"I wanted to see you and spend time with you but it was for the best." Wes explained. Sky grabbed him by the coat.
"You call growing up without a father okay? Do you have any idea what it is like to be alone, to see all the other guys playing with their dads?" He shouted.
Wes looked him in the eye. "If I had stayed, your life would've been a living nightmare." He said. Sky let go. "I can take care of myself." He said.
"Fine, I owe you an explanation, and I have one. When I was your age, your grandfather wanted me to be just like him, an exact copy, but I didn't want to sit in a boring office and go to meetings, I wanted adventure. That's why I became a Power Ranger instead of doing what he wanted me to do." Wes explained.
Sky still had his arms crossed.
"When your mother "returned" to me, we spent the night together on an island. The next day, after we defeated three monsters, she revealed to me she was pregnant, with you. I kept you with me, and she….went back to work." Wes said. Sky rolled his eyes. "Next thing you'll tell me is that the island could fly." Wes shifted his eyes a little at that.
The alarm went off.
Sky stood up. "We'll continue the fairy tale later. I got work to do." He said, running into the Command Center.
"Rangers, Saurian and a horde of Mafbots are raiding a medical plant." Cruger said. "What do they want there?" Syd asked. Cruger looked back. "I don't know, but I want you to get there on the double." He ordered.
Wes ran to see Sky off. "Be careful!" He shouted. Sky didn't listen. "Ready?" The rangers grabbed their Morphers. "Ready." They shouted in unison.
"S.P.D Emergency!"
"Quantum Power"
The rangers shouted, morphing. Wes watched them leave. Cruger turned to him
"You must be proud of your son." He said. Wes sighed. "I am, if only he wasn't so stern."
The rangers appeared and begin battling the bots. Saurian appeared in front of them. "There you are." He said, firing his arm cannon, sending the rangers flying.
Kyle clenched his fist. "You don't know when to quit, do you?" He said, getting up slowly.
Saurian called the Mafbots off. "This was only to get your attention." He said, flinging a card to Kyle, who caught it. Saurian and the bots vanished.
Kyle looked at it and a hologram image of Blackland appeared. "Lisssten to me ranger. I have what you want. I'll give them to you in exchange for 50 million in diamondsss AND all of your Morpherssss." He said.
"What? He's insane!!" Sky said.
"Diamonds? No way, those are mine." Syd complained. Kyle shushed her and went back to looking at the card.
"The drop will be made by you alone, in the tallesssst building in the city, top floor. Sssssix o'clock. If you don't come I will disposssse of these two." He said. The card went blank.
The blood ran from Kyle's face, making him white as a ghost. Back the Command Center, Cruger listened to the message.
"Blackland thinks he can get rid of us by using Kyle's parents as a bargaining chip." He said. "What do we do sir?" Sky asked.
"The drop time is in an hour. We need a plan." Wes piped in. He unfolded the blueprints of the building.
"If we can get someone to draw their fire, the rest of you can sneak in and reclaim the Morphers." Wes explained.
"Works for me." Kyle said. Sky stepped up. "Nice plan "dad", but who is going to be suicidal enough to do that?" He asked.
"I'll do it." Wes said. Kyle looked at him like he was insane. "You out of your mind? Those Mafbots are ruthless and that Saurian character will probably be with them." He said.
Wes looked at him. "I'll be fine; I know a thing or two about fighting robots after all." He explained.
"Let's prepare." Cruger said.
Kyle was practicing some moves in his room when Jessica came in. "I see you're getting ready to kill somebody." She said.
"Not really, but if Blackland wants a piece of me, I'm gonna be ready for him." He said, stopping. Jessica put a hand behind her head, nervous. "I wanted to come and apologize for that whole kidnapping thing."
Kyle stopped her in her tracks. "No apologies expected or required. You did it to save your dad, and I respect that." He said. She smiled. "Well, I also wanted to see you off and wish you good luck. I hope you get your parents back." She said.
He blinked at her nervousness but shrugged it off like nothing, and grabbed his coat. Jessica grabbed his arm and looked up at him slowly.
Kyle sighed. "Oh what the heck?" He said, and with that he kissed Jessica passionately. "That's all the luck I'll ever need." Kyle assured her. She blushed redder than a cherry tomato.
Kyle left the room and headed out. Jessica sat on his bed and waited for him to come back.
The five rangers along with Wes stood in front of Tricera Enterprises, the tallest building, belonging to a company owned by computer mogul Ethan James. The building was almost as blue as the sky itself
"I think I met the guy who owned this place once." Bridge said, scratching his head. Syd rolled her eyes. "When do you remember anything?" she replied.
"Okay guys, lets cut the chatter." Kyle said, opening a briefcase. The four rangers put their Morphers inside the four slots of the plush interior. He closed the case and shut it. He put it on top of the case holding the diamonds.
"You guys disappear. Once I'm inside, wait for my signal." Kyle said. They nodded as Kyle walked up into the building. Mafbots and Saurian waited for him to enter.
"Search him." Saurian ordered. The Mafbots checked Kyle to make sure he was unarmed. "Surrender your Morpher." Saurian said. Kyle put a hand over it.
"He wants me to give this to him in person." Kyle said. Saurian grinned. "Have it your way." He said.
Kyle took the elevator up. "I'm in." He said, speaking to the earpiece they overlooked.
"Got it." Sky said. He gave Wes the okay. Wes strolled in and looked at the Mafbots. "Whoops, I think I walked in on a sci-fi convention." He joked.
"Kill him." Saurian ordered. The Mafbots attacked Wes, who began fighting them off with the greatest of ease. Saurian gritted his fangs. "He's no ordinary human." He muttered.
Wes took one of the blades off a broken bot and began slashing away at the others. Saurian jumped in afterwards and punched Wes into the wall. Wes got up slowly.
Saurian drew his sword. "I'll cut you into pieces." He said. Wes tossed his red coat over Saurian, revealing his Chrono Morpher attached to his wrist.
"I hope this old thing still works." He said. Saurian pulled the coat off to see Wes and attack.
"Time for Time Force!" Wes shouted, morphing in the Red Time Force Ranger once more.
"Impossible!" Saurian shouted. Wes drew his Chrono Saber and the two began to battle.
"Time Force Strike!" Wes shouted, lighting his saber to a high red shine and slashing Saurian, who screamed in pain.
The four rangers drudged up the stairs, trying to get to the top. "How many floors are there?" Z complained.
"50 and we're on the 19th now." Bridge said. Syd and the others groaned as they carried on.
Kyle reached the top floor where Blackland waited with Domicile. Kyle carried in the two cases.
"Perfect. You are a devoted sssson my dear fire ranger." Blackland hissed. Kyle narrowed his eyes. "This isn't a pleasantry Blackland. Give me back my parents." He shouted.
"All in good time. First, hand over the diamondssssss." He said. Kyle put down the first case and kicked it over to him. Domicile opened the case with his one good hand. The diamonds sparkled brightly.
"We scored big on this one boss. With this we can buy so much more lab equipment." He said. Blackland blasted at him to shut him up. "Now for the Morphers." He said, holding up the red and yellow vials.
Kyle opened the other case, revealing the four Morphers inside. He took off his Quantum Morpher and laid it on top. Domicile took the case and held it up for Blackland to see.
"Now that I have what I want, you are powerlesssss to sssstop me." He said. Kyle gulped a little at that. Blackland walked around a little, looking at the vials.
"Do you want to really be a ssssuperhero?" He said. Kyle gritted his teeth. "Give them to me NOW Blackland!!" He demanded. Suddenly the rangers kicked open the door to the stairs. Kyle used the distraction to grab his Morpher back.
Blackland grinned. "Go fetch!" He said, tossing the two vials out an open window.
"NOOO!!!!" Kyle shouted, running to the window, and without thinking, jumped out after them.
The other rangers gasped in horror. "Kyle no!!!" Sky shouted. Blackland turned to them. "You will be next!" He slithered. The other rangers prepared to fight as Kyle and his parents plummeted to the concrete below.
