Chapter 10 – Dyers Eve
May 26 1998 – Angel Grove High School
Graduation Day always felt a little strange for any student but for four former pupils at Angel Grove High, this really was the end of an era. TJ, Cassie, Carlos and Ashley stood at the entrance to the school and took everything in for one final time. Tomorrow would be the day that they would leave Earth behind and join Andros in the search for Zordon. The red ranger had finally gotten the hyper drive operational, with a little bit of help from Alpha. The Megaship was fully stocked for an extended flight, all they needed to do was make a quick stop at Satellite 15 to refuel and they would leave their home planet behind.
The main entrance of Angel Grove High still had scaffolding in front of it, a sign of the damage that Divatox's forces had caused to the building a few months ago. Sections of the school were still off limits which was why the ceremony would take place on the quad at the side of the school.
"Taking it all in", Charlotte asked her friends as she slipped her arm around Carlos' waist.
"It still doesn't seem real", Ashley replied, "this time tomorrow we'll be half way across the galaxy".
The former blue turbo ranger sighed, "I hope you don't forget about this place and the people here".
"Hey we would never do that", Carlos kissed the top of her head, "we need you to be our eyes and ears on Earth".
"It was good of Aimi to give you a summer job at INET's new office in the city", TJ stated.
"Yeah I could do with the cash", Charlotte replied, "right shall we get this over with. I need to sit down, these shoes are killing me", she flashed her black high heeled shoes. The others laughed and moved over towards the seated area. When they arrived they saw some familiar faces smiling at them, Adam Park and Kat Hillard.
"Hey guys", Kat smiled, "big day today".
"Like you wouldn't believe", Cassie replied.
"I remember our graduation day", Adam began, it was the day that he and the other rangers had handed back their Zeo powers, "bit of a mixed bag of emotions really".
"The curse of Angel Grove I guess", TJ responded. He then turned his attention to two other people standing nearby. Dressed in their finest suits were Bulk and Skull, "What are you two doing here, I thought you graduated already".
"We did", Skull replied, "still not sure how though".
"You're not the only one", Adam muttered.
"We decided to start our own security business", Bulk continued, "this is our first job, keeping everyone safe at graduation".
"I feel so reassured", Cassie smirked before turning back to Kat and Adam, "so I hear you two are leaving as well".
Kat nodded, "Yeah I'm heading east to MIT with Tommy. I start a course in English in the fall".
"And I've finally gotten enough money together to start my dojo", Adam added, "I'll give you all a discount if you stop by", he passed a business card over to TJ.
"Thanks but I think we're going to be getting enough practice in the next few months", the blue ranger said.
"Speaking of that, where's your new friend?" Adam asked.
"He's fixing up his car", Cassie replied, using a code word for the Megaship, "long trip ahead of us tomorrow".
"Well if we don't see you again, good luck with everyone", Kat pointed to an empty row of chairs, "now you'd better take your seats".
The rangers nodded and moved down towards the front with the other students. As they passed the assembled parents, TJ, Ashley and Carlos gave theirs a quick wave. Charlotte sighed, there was no one here for her today. Cassie on the other hand got a shock when she spotted a familiar face a couple of rows in front, "Mom!" she exclaimed, "what are you doing here?"
Reiko Chan stood up and smiled at her daughter, "I came to surprise you", she replied, "my job in Tokyo is complete so I'm moving back to Angel Grove".
The pink ranger smiled and threw her arms around her mother. After a few seconds Cassie stepped back, "Mom you're ice cold".
"I'm just a little chilly that's all", Reiko began, "it was much warmer in Tokyo than here".
Cassie raised an eyebrow, "Does Aimi know you're here?"
Reiko shook her head, "I just got in this morning, I didn't really have time", she nudged Cassie towards the front, "now the ceremony is starting, we'll catch up later". Cassie nodded and shuffled away, she couldn't put her finger on it but something wasn't quite right.
"Is your Mom alright", Charlotte whispered, "she looks really pale".
"Probably jet lag", Cassie replied, "or maybe she's coming down with something". As the teens took their seats, Principle Kaplin began his speech. Cassie was so engrossed with her thoughts that she didn't hear a single word of it. She was so distracted that she didn't even notice that her name had been called. Blushing with embarrassment, she muttered an apology to Mr Kaplin when she collected her diploma
"Ashley Hammond", Mr Kaplin called. The yellow ranger shook the principle's hand and she was followed by TJ, Charlotte and finally Carlos. "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the class of 1998". The audience applauded and the students threw their caps into the air. Just as they did this, the makeshift auditorium was filled with purple light and several Quantrons teleported in. Everyone immediately started screaming and running for safety as quickly as they could.
"Great can't we get a moment's peace", Ashley grumbled. The teens slowly separated themselves from the exodus of students and tried to find a good place to take on the metal menaces. They were approaching the podium when three Quantrons leapt up on to the stage. They began to force Principle Kaplin back toward the fabric lined walls, their curved blades ready to strike.
"We need to help him", Cassie called out. She jumped towards the nearest Quantron and kicked it in the back. The robot bounced off the fabric wall of the giant tent and straight into a kick in its stomach. She noticed a pole with the Angel Grove city flag on it. Pulling it out from its mounting, she drove it into the robot and disabled it.
Carlos and Charlotte had the other two in their sights. The black ranger ripped up the podium and smashed it into the back for the Quantron nearest to him. The helpless creature split in two with spark flying out of its exposed circuits. Charlotte ducked under the blade of her Quantron and elbowed it in the back. She attempted a roundhouse kick but stumbled in her high heels. She landed on hard on her backside, much to her embarrassment, "Don't say a word", she called out to the laughing Carlos. She swept out the legs of the Quantron before removing the offending footwear. She drove the heels into the head of the robot, shutting it down permanently.
"Principle Kaplin are you alright", Ashley asked as she approached the shaking principle.
"Y-yes I'm fine Miss Hammond", he mumbled, "where did you learn to fight like that?"
"Long story", she replied. Just then another Quantron snuck up on her, she only just managed to kick it away before it could hit her with its bladed weapon. The teens huddled around the Principle as more Quantrons began to gather around them.
"Guys I think we need to", TJ waived his wrist in the air, "you know".
The others looked around the auditorium, other than the principle the only people left were Kat, Adam and surprisingly, Bulk and Skull, "But there's still people around", Carlos whispered.
"I don't think you have much choice", Charlotte added.
The active rangers nodded and got into line, "You might want to shield your eyes Mr Kaplin", TJ said. Before the principle could respond, the blue ranger called, "Let's rocket". In a flash of light, four of the five Space Rangers appeared on stage, weapons drawn and ready to fight.
"You're", Principle Kaplin stuttered, "you're Power Rangers?"
"Yeah and we'd appreciate if you could keep that quiet", Carlos replied. Using his Lunar Lance he cut a hole in the tent, "Quickly get out of here, we've got this covered". Principle Kaplin nodded and quickly shuffled through the hole the black ranger had made.
"Mind if I take this", Charlotte pulled Carlos' Astro Blaster out of its holster, "I feel a little under powered". The black ranger nodded and the Space Rangers made short work of the Quantrons on the stage. They leapt over to the others left in the Auditorium and cleared away the remaining robots in short order.
Bulk and Skull slowly walked around the morphed rangers, slightly in awe, "All this time", Bulk muttered, "it was you all along".
"Well not quite", TJ replied, "we're the second wave of rangers you could say".
Skull looked over to Kat, Adam and Charlotte, "Why aren't you three surprised by this". They could almost see the cogs moving in his head, "Either than mean you knew all along, or you were rangers yourself".
"Come on Skull", Bulk scoffed, "Adam here I can believe but ballet and drummer girl, please".
The girl shook their heads, "I was the Blue Turbo Ranger I'll have you know", Charlotte exclaimed.
"Pink Zeo", Kat added.
"Black Mighty Morphin and Green Zeo", Adam raised his hand. Before they could continue, more Quantrons began to swarm into the Auditorium.
Cassie looked up and saw something unusual near the entrance, "Mom?" she called out. Reiko Chan smirked and strutted away from the entrance, "Guys my Mom's still here, we need to help her".
"Right", TJ replied and pulled out his Astro Blaster, "do you guys need some fire power?"
"No thanks, we've got these", Adam replied as he and Kat summoned their Zeo Pistols.
TJ sighed, "I can't believe I'm about to do this", he handed his blaster to Skull. Ashley shook her head and gave her blaster to Bulk, "Don't blow yourselves up", he added as the rangers ran outside, "and I want them back in one piece".
Ignoring the cheerful celebrations of Bulk and Skull, the rangers made their way outside. To their surprise, Reiko was calmly waiting for them, "Hello rangers", she said with a cold tone, "hello daughter".
"What's going on Mom", Cassie stepped forward, "are you helping Astronema?"
Reiko laughed, "Well more Dark Specter really, that prissy little girl doesn't even know I'm here".
"But why?" Cassie asked in confusion.
"Well once I knew you were a ranger what else could I do", Reiko smirked, "after all I wouldn't want to fight on the same side as you". The pink ranger was immobilised by the words of her mother, "You always were worthless Cassandra, the last few years I spent in Japan were the happiest of my life". She moved her head so she was glaring straight through Cassie's visor, "That's because I was away from you".
"Mrs Chan that's enough", Ashley called out. She always liked Cassie's Mom, she had never heard her talk like this before.
"Stay out of this child", she roared, "this is between me and my daughter".
Underneath her helmet, tears were rolling down Cassie's face, "Mommy", she whispered.
"Aww crying for Mommy now are we", Reiko laughed, "Mommy knows just how to make this all better". She raised her arms and splayed her fingers so they looked like claws. She was about to pounce when suddenly a short gasp of pain came out of her mouth and her eyes widened. Cassie looked down and saw the tip of a weapon sticking out of the chest of her Mom. The weapon was withdrawn and someone pushed her Mom to the ground. Standing there was Andros, morphed and with his Spiral Saber in his hand.
"Andros what the hell did you just do?" TJ yelled.
Cassie snapped her head towards the red ranger, "You just killed my Mom", she gasped.
"That's not your Mom Cassie", he replied with a cold edge to his voice. Everyone looked to the ground and the body began to change. It grew taller and Reiko's clothing changed into a long black cloak. It's face wasn't visible but sticking out of the sleeves of the cloak were extremely sharp looking claws. The body gurgled and turned into black vapour that dissipated in the breeze, "It's called a Reaper", Andros continued, "unfortunately I know them well".
"So that means my Mom's alright?" Cassie asked.
Andros didn't reply for a moment and kept his head bowed to the floor, "Cassie you need to find your Aunt", he finally said, "TJ you should go with her".
"I don't understand", Cassie whispered, "I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what's going on".
"I'm not asking you as a friend Cassie", Andros shot back, "that's an order as your team leader". Cassie didn't say anything further as TJ took her by the arm and they teleported away. When the blue and pink rangers had gone, Andros turned to the two remaining rangers, "We need to help clear out the tent", he said in a monotone voice, "I'll explain more after we've done that". Ashley and Carlos were still confused but followed the order, hoping that Andros had a damn good explanation for them.
Stewart Residence
After clearing out the last of the Quantrons and retrieving the Astro Blasters from Bulk and Skull, Andros, Ashley, Carlos and Charlotte returned to the Stewart's. The red ranger still hadn't elaborated on what a Reaper was or why he was so freaked out by it. In fact he hadn't said much at all on the journey back. When they walked through the door, they saw Justin on the couch watching a rolling news channel. He looked at the arrivals with a solemn look on his face, "Hey Justin", Charlotte began, "what's wrong".
The youngster didn't say anything. He grabbed the remote and turned up the volume on the television. "It's been confirmed that the body found in the bathroom at Angel Grove International Airport belong to that of 40 year old Reiko Chan", the reported said. Everyone except for Justin and Andros gasped at the news, "details are still coming in to us here but eyewitness accounts suggest that Mrs Chan was attacked by some kind of monster".
"That's how you knew what it was", Ashley whispered to Andros.
Andros nodded, "I've come across several Reapers since leaving KO-35. They're one of Dark Specter's most vile monsters. They take the form of someone they've recently killed. They then appear before that person's unsuspecting family and drive them to the point of despair before killing them and taking their form". Andros bowed his head, "The first one I encounter took the form of my Dad, that's how I found out my parents were dead". Ashley put her arm around the red ranger as Justin got up from the sofa and threw his arms around his sister. All of them knew Reiko Chan pretty well and this news had knocked the wind out of them.
The door opened and a bleary eyes Cassie walked through the door with TJ close behind her. Seeing the distress on her friends faces broke the dam on her own grief. She sunk to her knees and let out a horrid sounding wail. TJ wrapped his arm around her and everyone immediately surrounded the pink ranger. One of their own had been taken from them and they would need each other more than ever if they were going to get through their grief.
A/N - Wow a lot happened in that chapter. Firstly a Bulk and Skull sighting and now they're in on the rangers secret. Don't see how that could backfire at all...
Now for Cassie's Mom, I always intended for her to be killed off. A little harsh considering she was just about to move back home but war doesn't play fair. I do wish I had built her up a little more before killing her off though. Finally the introduction of a monster I've called Reaper's, they'll be popping up again later on. Imagine Dementors from the Harry Potter series, they look a little like them.