Chapter 9: Confrontation

Not even a sliver of light peered through the compromised engine room of Axis' ship. Jason felt around his body, confirming that his Ranger suit and helmet remained attached. But his heads up display systems had been compromised, leaving him engulfed by cold, silent darkness. He tried to re-initiate communication systems, but they wouldn't function either. His power suit seemed to have been reduced to tightly-fitting clothes. He felt around the room, trying to find the exhaust slit he entered from. All the while, he wondered if his mother saw nothing but darkness too.

Then, the engine room doors slid open. The sudden flash of light stung Jason's eyes, but he managed to quickly hide behind the engine itself while two of Axis' henchmen entered the room.

Jason thought about his next move as his heart rapidly pounded on his chest. He carefully peered around the engine to observe the pair of Triforians that entered. Both towered over Jason; tall and dressed in thin white and teal uniforms. But neither looked as imposing as the regular brand of Triforian warrior, nor were they clad in much armor.

"Alright, we're here." The slightly taller of the two henchmen took a quick look at the engine.

"Let's be quick about this so as to not upset The General," replied the slightly shorter henchman.

Jason held his breath to avoid making a sound. While the Triforians made repairs to the engine, he noticed his Morpher systems coming back online. He carefully poked his head around the engine once more. The henchmen hadn't noticed him yet while they worked to reboot the systems. Maybe I could sneak around, try and jump them. But what if they have their blasters pre-loaded? Damn… Wait, I'm still morphed, and I can actually draw my blaster this time. I can do this.

The engines soon came back online; the gentle whir of its internal cooling unit steadily returning as the effects of the EMP wore off.

Jason took a deep breath and smirked behind the dark cover of his visor. I've got this. He revealed himself to the henchmen.

"Hey!" The larger of the two henchmen noticed Jason. "We've got an intruder!"

Jason threw both his hands up. "W-Who? Me? I was just… looking for the Tech Help Center. You see, my Morpher's been pretty buggy lately and I was hoping to get it fixed."

The Triforian pair stared at each other confused and then back at Jason.

"Nice try, Ranger," replied the slightly shorter henchman. "But we got rid of that section of the ship last month."

"Wait, we did?" asked the taller one.

The shorter one sighed. "It was in the meeting minutes, man. I keep telling you to take notes because you always always forget."

"Wait a minute…" The larger henchman scratched his head. "Why would a Power Ranger come to our ship for tech help anyways?"

"Hmm…" The shorter one rubbed his chin. "Aha! I get the feeling that we're being played!"

Jason waved his hands at the pair. "So, here's the thing about that…" He quickly got out his blaster and shot down both henchmen before they could draw their own weapons.

"Whew, mother was right about these guys. Not a lot of muscle where it matters most." Jason's hands still trembled from the rush. He took a hard look at his Morpher and nodded. "Morpher, it's time to be real heroes."

Jason ran out of the engine room and entered the crimson tinted hallways of the ship. All the while, he kept his blaster pointed directly ahead of him.

Meanwhile, back on the Astro4, Taylor and Kendrix watched over Ethan's shoulder as he tried to get Jason's communications back online. Multiple attempts to re-establish connections proved unsuccessful, until a faint, static-laced blimp started to come in and out of focus.

"Almost up… got it!" Ethan found Jason's Morpher signal as the blip turned green and remained solid upon the computer screen.

The signal moved quickly across the ship before stopping for a few moments, then moving again, drawing looks of concern from the trio of onlookers.

"And by the looks of it, he's heading towards the bridge…?" Ethan looked to the others. "But why go there?"

"He wouldn't…" said Taylor.

"Carter, you need to get to him right away," Kendrix communicated. "I think he may be looking to take on Axis."

Carter made it to the engine room and noticed the two downed henchmen littered on the floor. He raced out and found another twitching henchman body draped across the hall. He continued to follow the trail. "Guys, I'm close. Let's hope I can get to him before he can get to Axis."

Jason continued to storm the halls with his Chronic Blaster in hand, neutralizing ship henchmen and even a handful of warriors who took a few more shots to put down. One more hard thud upon the ground as Jason blasted back a warrior. His suit and helmet gained a few new scratches and marks while dealing with the hefty opponent. His breath labored, but his confidence continued to rise.

While the warrior squirmed on the floor, Jason could just make out a grainy sound in his ear. Jason pulled out a tiny communication device. He then used his Morpher to amplify the sound and listen in.

"Cadet, what is your status? Has the intruder been eliminated?"

Jason cleared his throat and spoke into the device, "General Axis! I hope you're listening right now because I'm coming for you! If you're half the man you think you are, quit sending me your big throw pillows and face me yourself. I'm waiting."

Jason crunched the device under the weight of his grip. "Heh, this is getting kind of fun. But I gotta stay focused. All I have to do is beat him now." He continued making his way towards the bridge.

Inside that very bridge, henchmen and warriors alike worked furiously to re-initiate launch systems with the engines once again operational. The layout greatly contrasted that of the Astro4; much darker, much larger, less stylized, and with numerous Triforians working at their respective stations.

A cadet reported Jason's recent outburst to Lieutenant South.

South took a deep breath before walking up to Axis, sitting on a large chair in the very center of the room. "It's a Power Ranger, My General. The Green one, I've been told. He, ahem… he called us big throw pillows… and has requested an audience with you."

"Could it be…?" General Axis smirked and stood from his chair. "Enough of our people have suffered this day, Lieutenant. We best not keep our guest waiting any longer. Stay here and oversee the bridge. And set me up over the PA system."

"At once, My General."

Jason continued to run his way up the levels of the ship. As fate would have it, the engine room and the bridge are separated by practically the entire length of the vessel. He kept running through sliding doors and up tiny staircases using the ship readouts as a guide. More than halfway there now.

But then, a loud sharp sound shrieking over the airwaves halted his progress. And then, an announcement over the PA system, "Good evening, Green Ranger. My name is General Axis, but I suspect you already knew that. You seem to have mentioned wanting to meet with me. I suppose you'll need a hard reminder. Because against me…"

The PA announcement suddenly cut out.

Jason froze in place as his head darted all around. His helmet's heads up display wasn't picking up much, and its outputs were generating noticeably slower than before.

Just then, a shadowy figure appeared behind Jason. "...You're the throw pillow."

Jason quickly rotated his body, just as he practiced, and cocked back a heavy punch, but a powerful surge of electricity blasted him to the floor.

"Did you enjoy that one? It's one of my favorite techniques, that. Takes a bit of time to grasp, no two ways about it, but it is ever so satisfying to unleash."

Jason slowly began to rise. Then, he got into his proper fighting form while staring upon that fiendish smirk, that striking glare, once again. He pointed his blaster directly at Axis. "General Axis! I am Chronic Storm Green Ranger 5, and I'm here to stop you. Consider yourself under arrest."

Axis held in a chuckle before full on laughing. "Ahahaha! I see you finally learned how to unholster the damn thing." He shrugged with a sigh. "Well, fine then. Take me away in handcuffs or whatever you Earthers use nowadays. I surrender."

Jason began to drop his blaster's aim for a split second before lifting it back up with a tightened grip. "No chance I'll fall for that act. You'll need to kill me to win this time."

"I'll be honest. I had hoped, but didn't truly believe, you'd have the nerve to suit up again after facing me. So tell me, boy, what makes you think you'll fare any less tragically then when last we met?"

"I know what it means to be a real Power Ranger now."

"Hmph, you royal brat. You've known not struggle, nor strife, and you think you know power? True power comes from fighting for it, sacrificing for it, and once you have it, working everyday of your life to hold onto it before the inevitable end. You think you can wield that Morpher, fit your frame into colorful spandex, and that gives you power? You don't even know the meaning of the word."

A perturbed Jason started to charge Axis while firing his blaster.

Axis lifted his arm and coated it with an electrical surge that repelled the blasts.

Jason got in close and unleashed a flurry of punches.

Axis however deflected all of his efforts with a single hand before grabbing Jason's arm and throwing him to the cold floor.

"Is this the limit of your so called 'power'? I have had greater issue with creatures half your size."

Jason rose from the floor again and kept putting the pressure on Axis with a series of kicks. Axis danced around his blows before laying a punch into his helmet, slightly cracking the left side of his visor.

Jason dropped to the floor again, his heads up display now shutting off completely. But he quickly got right back up, still glaring at Axis through his deformed visor.

Axis' eyes widened. "You've improved a great deal in a short amount of time. You've become like the Kodenai species of rodent on my home world: small, feeble looking, bottom of the food chain, and yet, deceptively hard to keep down."

Jason caught his breath and got back into his fighting form. "You'd better try harder then."

"Hmm, I suppose you're right. Allow me to show you my full power."

Jason tightened his muscles, bracing himself for the next attack.

"Based on where you are now and where you're hiding your ship, it would take you quite a while to get back, no?"

Jason's frame started to shiver as the words strangled his ears. His arms started to lower ever so slightly.

"That's right, Green Ranger. Did you truly believe that your cloaking technology would go unnoticed? A clever attempt, I'll grant you. But you were allowed to succeed. And now, I have Queen Diane and her pet Rangers all in one convenient place. Good fortune, really."

While listening in on the communications, Kendrix overheard the entire exchange. "Guys, we've been made. General Axis knows where we are. He's known from the start."

"Can we park the ship somewhere else?" asked Ethan.

"Where!?" Taylor bluntly replied. "To the side, directly in range of his giant laser guns?"

"Guys, stay calm," Carter communicated from inside Axis' ship. "We can make it through this. But first, I need to get to Jason."

"The kid's already found Axis," Taylor replied. "You need to pick up the pace."

"Understood. Hopefully, I'm not too late." Carter continued to rush down the crimson halls following the trail of henchmen and warriors laying nearly motionless around every other corner.

Further down those same halls, Jason stood paralyzed, shaking in his suit as Axis' full power overwhelmed him.

"Now, boy. You have yourself a decision to make. I have your mother, the Queen, locked away in a cell block programmed to launch into the surface of Saturn's nearest moon at full speed, instantly killing her, should I chose. And, I know your team is positioned near the back exhaust port of my ship." Axis slowly crept closer to Jason's quivering body. "You claim to have power. You claim to know what power is. What now, Green Ranger? How will you act now that you stare upon the face of real power?"

Jason snapped out of his fear and repeatedly blasted Axis with his Chronic Blaster. "How's that for power?"

A thick cloud of smoke blanketed the hallway just as Carter finally caught up to the fight. "Jason…? Jason!"

The smoke began to clear, revealing an unphased General Axis. "You're running low on tricks, Green Rang—" Axis noticed Carter staring him down through his visor right beside Jason. "The man out of time, back from the dead… A surprise, to be sure, but ultimately, an unimpactful one."

"I was the lucky one. Also the only one, you monster. What you did to my team and the Ranger Academy is unforgivable!" Carter looked to Jason. "Can you still fight?"

"Really!? Fighting alongside Carter Grayson. It doesn't get much better than this!"

Carter nodded and the pair faced down Axis. "Okay General, let's see how you fare against double the power."

Axis sneered at their words. "A truly titillating offer, truly. However, given what I know about your ship's location and what I have in your Queen, I just made your number of viable options one: Surrender now, or, I will expel your Queen from my ship and then blast your ship with the full force of my weaponry."

Carter's fists rattled while he sorted through the situation. Maybe if we took him down quickly enough… No… it's too risky. He dropped his guard, succumbed to their circumstance, and demorphed. "Power down… We can't win this round."

"Carter, no!" Jason kept his blaster pointed at Axis. "We have him right where we want him!"

"Do you?" Axis stepped closer to Jason while his blaster shook in his hands. "Tell me, Green Ranger… did you ever go camping?"

"Huh…? What are you trying to—"

"Hehehe, or did your mother also pull you home after endless begging and a stream of tears?"

Jason felt his stomach drop. His head grew lighter, his heart skipped several beats, and his grip started to loosen. "W… What…? How did you—"

"As I said, you were allowed to succeed. How beautifully ironic, to be so hellbent on getting into my communications that you fail to double check the security of your own. Speaking of beauty, I wonder about this female associate of yours. Another new member of your 'team' no doubt, but based on what I could gather from your merry little venture through the stars, she seems quite fond of you. I wonder, are you as fond of her?"

Jason's blaster began to rattle more rapidly. Axis positioned himself directly in front of his aim, goating him on with his smirk. Jason could feel his finger caress the trigger, but he couldn't make it fire.

Then, he dropped his blaster, feeling the loud clacking sound it made as it collided with the floor. And then, he demorphed. "Power down… I'm sorry, Carter. I got us into this mess."

"What's important now is that we live to fight another day," replied Carter.

"Enough conversation!" stated Axis.

A pair of henchmen came walking down the hall to strip Carter and Jason of their Morphers.

"Now those you certainly won't be needing," Axis said. "Take them into separate cells and continue launch sequencing. We need not waste any additional time in this unkempt Solar System."

"At once, My General." One of the henchmen collected both Morphers and returned to the bridge.

The other restrained Carter and Jason's arms with the same specialized, practically unbreakable, light blue energy cuffs that currently restrained the Queen. They were then brought to the cell block level to share Diane's fate.

Both Rangers were locked away, separate from the Queen herself. Axis did not want to risk any of them conversing and potentially causing problems. Rather, all three were kept far apart, isolated in silence, meant only to see the crimson hues of the floor outside their cell windows.