Chapter 9: "The Arrival"
Everything was quiet. There was no sign of any movement as the metallic door of the infirmary slide open. Out walked Andros, wearing a face that resembled a form of regret. He slowly found his way to a bedside. Taking a glance down, his eyes fell upon that of the unconcious Zhane. He gripped the bars along the bed tightly. "I should've been there to help him..." He was building fury with himself. The door opened again, this time it was Karone, with a look of grief implanted upon her lovely face. Andros knew better than to make the mood darker than it had to be, so he hid his feelings behind a false mask of trying to comfort her. He laid his hand on her shoulder, all the while saying, "Don't worry. He'll be fine. Zhane's tough." He flashed a smile. It was either the reassurance of her brother or his smile that managed to cheer her up. If not by much. She replied,
"Y-yeah. I'm sure your right." However, she sat by Zhane, keeping her attention on him. Her eyes traced along him while she was lost in thought. Andros, sensing that his sister would want to be alone, slipped out. He held a face to himself, then in a whisperd voice, he muttered,
"Graver... I'll make you pay... Count on it." Still in a foul mood, he walked to the bridge.
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On the moon, Lord Zedd was practically fuming with rage. Smoke was still issuing from the walls which were burnt from his outburst. His eyes flashed red as he said bitterly, "Curse those miserable multicolored misfits!" He slammed his staff down, making several sparks shooting out. His entire body began to glow a decent color of crimson. However, before he unleashed his fury, in a whirl of blue and black arrived Graver. He kneeled to Lord Zedd and held up a silver and gold device. Zedd gave him a quizzical look. "And just what is that?" He spat at him. Graver gave a little chuckle.
"Why this? This is the Silver ranger's morpher." He smirked as Zedd cooled down and watched him in disbelief. He regained his composure and followed up by saying,
"Impressive! How did you get it?" Zedd asked excitedly. Twirling the morpher in his fingers, the bounty hunter said in a deep tone,
"Well... I sort of left the poor guy in bad sorts... if you get my drift." The recent failure was driven quickly from his mind. Zedd hopped up and, in a voice that matched Graver's, said,
"Excellent! At least of of those power pests are out of the way." He stopped and looked at Graver again. "Speaking of excellent... did you find that wily woman of yours?" Graver's eyes flashed deep red.
"She isn't 'my' woman Zedd. Don't push my buttons, as I told you." But soon he lowered his hostility and answered calmly, "Of course. She's on her way as we speak." Once he finished he pointed to the balcony, which seemed empty. A few seconds later, several scarlet petals flew in through the open space and began to dance around them. Then, as if having a mind of their own, the petals soon concentrated themselves against on of the walls. Out of their mass stepped a new woman figure, with a lily body and vine-like hair. Her features were surprisingly human although. Zedd was fast to comment,
"What happened to you? You look... positively horrid." She laughed in a high voice which resembled a screech. Catching herself, she spoke.
"Oh Lord Zedd, you are brutal on a lady aren't you?" She shot a look at Graver, who said nothing. She continued with no interruptions. "I am in my second stage of development. I am the lovely Arborisa, the temptress of all the universe!" She flicked her hair to get the message across. Zedd pondered for a moment.
"Tempting? I've seen slabs of meat more tempting than your grotesque appearence woman!" She bowed and said curly,
"Ah, but the humans are my prey. I am not worthy of being called lovely by you my lord." Graver couldn't help himself, he outwardly snorted loudly. Turning her attention briefly to him she said low so only he could hear,
"Unlike you, I value my lord's opinion." Withdrawing from the conversation, Graver blew into the air. He said to no one imparticular,
"Pfff... you give someone life and they backsass you. I guess that's life." He disappeared again, leaving the two of them alone. Zedd addressed Arborisa in a tone of excitement,
"AHA! I have another brilliant plan!" He clutched his staff and began laughing. He pointed to the mistress. "You! Go to earth and put the men of Angel Grove under your command!" He banged his staff. "Once you accomplish that, I want you to lure the rangers out with your new slaves. Without their weapons, they will be easier to pick off than flies!" Arborisa smiled in turn.
"Of course my lord. Nothing would please me more than to do your bidding." At once she disappeared in a whirl of petals, which flew out of the palace.
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Back on the Megaship, the bridge was a scene of life once again. Zhane had finally opened his eyes, much to the overwhelming relief of the blonde-haired Karone. He told the others what had happened between him and Graver. At some point, Cassie popped the question,
"Okay, we know about Amn- I mean Arborisa and where she came from... but how does this 'Graver' guy fit into the story?" Andros and Zhane exchanged glances. Zhane nodded as Andros said, after a minute of silence,
"Graver is an intergalactic bounty hunter. He used to work for the Dark Alliance, but was sealed by the Alien Rangers from Aquitar with the help of Zordon on earth." He waited for the information to register. "Although that's all we know. The only ones who really know where Graver came from are the people of Aquitar, where Graver first commited his crimes." The others stood in silence. After a bit, Ashley said,
"But the Dark Alliance was destroyed wasn't it? I mean during the final battle? Who could Graver be working for now?" It was Karone who answered her.
"Well, before the monster we destroyed the other day exploded... he was screaming sorry to Lord Zedd..." She stopped as the others eyed her curiously. "Lord Zedd was a big contender in the Alliance. He WAS supposed to capture earth, but then was I was assigned to destroy you guys and..." She couldn't go on. But the others understood pretty well. Afterall, Karone was the Princess of evil until a few weeks ago. Zhane, rising from his chair, continued where she left off.
"The point is that Graver has someone to work for now AND the Arborisa monster is probably working with them. If that's the case... who knows what they could do." He spoke with such passion that the others soaked up every word. Carlos spoke next,
"Then, how're we supposed to fight them then? During the last battle, that monster totalled the Astro weapons." The others nodded. Zhane said to complement,
"Yeah, and Graver did a number on my weapon too..." His memory trailed back to the dust-turned Silverizer. Andros was unphased however. He looked up and said,
"D.E.C.A., open the Mega compartment." At once the room was echoing with,
"Releasing lock now. Mega Compartment opening sequence complete." The wall closest to them opened. Inside was a brilliant white light. The rangers covered there eyes until the light died down. They all stared down what was inside the vault with open mouths. It contained what seemed to be a new variety of weapons. Andros smiled at their dumbfounded looks. He said in satisfaction,
"These are the MEGA series weapons. They were based on Triforian technology, but can adapt with our powers as well." He went to the vault and handed each of them a new weapon, with Karone being an exception. He said first to Carlos,
"Your new weapon is the Solar Spearer. It functions the same way as the Lunar Lancer, but is much more powerful." Carlos looked at it from several angles. It was sleek and black with a hint of gold. Instead of a moon blade, the blade at the end was straight and true, like a powerful sunray. He turned to Cassie next.
"Mirroring Carlos, your weapon is the Jupiter Javeliner. It's a bit smaller, but just as powerful as it's brother." Cassie looked at the new weapon with curiosity. Like the Spear, it was sleek, but it has a motif of pink and gold instead. He handed the next one to T.J.
"The Mercury Macer is yours T.J. It is similar to your Astro Axe, but vastly more powerful and a bit easier to handle I think." The blue and old designs on the weapon left him speechless, but he nodded and grinned. He came to Ashley next, with a grin of his own.
"Yours is the Saturn Shielder. It can reflect any attack back at the enemy, no matter how strong." Ashley gave a look of approving. Lastly, he focused on Zhane. However, Zhane declined.
"Until I get my power back, I can't help you guys in battle. I'll just be a bother..." Karone pleaded with him.
"That isn't true Zhane! Your the greatest fighter in the galaxy." She eyed Andros who nodded with a smile. Zhane returned her reply with a smile of his own. But Andros closed the weapon vault again.
"If you really don't want to know then I can't stop you." He shrugged. Interrupting the moment, D.E.C.A.'s voice came ringing out again,
"Arborisa detected. Monster is atop the Angel Grove Observation Deck." The all nodded and went down the shutes. Zhane called after them,
"Good Luck guys!" And hung his head. "I just wish I could be there..."
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As the rangers came down, they were surprised by the presence of most, if not all, the men of Angel Grove crowding around the bottom of the observation deck. Looking up, Karone pointed out,
"Look, it's raining... petals?" It was true. The entire Angel Grove sky was aflutter with blood-red petals with white underneathe. Then came a melodious voice which said,
Come to Me Darling,
I Will Make it Right,
Give Me Your Soul,
And Spend the Night.
The men reacted more violently and started to try and scale the walls.T.J. said quickly,
"We have to find the source of that song and fast!" Andros soon replied in gusto,
"Right. Karone, Ashley and I will go to the top of the deck. You guys make sure no one gets hurt." They all nodded and split into their groups.
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On top of the deck, Arborisa stopped singing and noticed the rangers splitting up. "Wonderful. I'll entertain the red ranger and his lovely partners first. While my lovesick slaves capture the others." She began the song anew,
Pink is the color of my heart,
Capture the moment for us.
Black is the color of wonder,
Capture the feeling for us.
Blue is the color of love,
Capture it for me.
The effect was instantaneous. The screams of the men came up to her. "Music to my delicate ears." She giggled in a sing-song way. Soon however, Andros, Karone, and Ashley raced up the steps, face to face with her. She smiled at Ashley and said,
"Miss me darling?" She put a sarcastic twist at the end. Ashley couldn't believe how different she was from just a few days ago. But she pointed to her.
"Let the guys go from your speel you witch!" She twirled her hair and replied calmly,
"Honestly, must you always fling insults?" Ashley was sure by now. Arborisa's demeanor changed drastically from their previous fight. But She walked towards them slowly. "I'm a bit different from the last time we fought? Hardly." She grabbed one of the vines from her hair and pulled. In a flash of green, the vine transfixed itself into a sword. Ashley, knowing it was time, took out her hands and said,
"Saturn Shielder!" In a greater flash of gold, the yellow and gold shield appeared in her hands. Andros joined her, saying,
"Spiral Sabre!" Where a drill-like sword materialized. Karone, the last one, held out her hands and said,
"Celeste Crossbower!" A gold and black weapon, which heaved itelf on her arm, was as it's name suggested, a crossbow. However, it shot energy arrows, as Karone proved when she ran towards and shot a round. Before Ashley could warn her, Arborisa shot a thorn out from her hand, which absorbed the weapon's energy. She grabbed it and shot the bullets back at Karone, which made her fly back from the impact.
"Karone!" Andros called, running back to her side. She nodded.
"I-I'm all right Andros. I rushed in without thinking..." With a look of anger, Andros made a beeline for the Arborisa. Dodging her thorns and sword, he slashed and hacked and hit her over and over. The sparks flying all over. Sesning an opening finally, she used the vines in her hair to grab the Sabre from his hands. Stunned, Andros tried to beat her with fists next, but was struck back with a simple sword strike. He flew into the wall, crashing through the glass. He sloutched to the floor.
"ANDROS!" Ashley cried out as she went to shield him. The Arborisa smiled as she walked towards them.
"How touching. What a girl would do for her man that is." She raised her sword, when a sharp pain hit her side. Grasping it, she staggered and looked behind her. Standing there was Cassie, Carlos, and T.J., weapons at the ready. She was flabbergasted.
"But but... My song! You should have been captured!" Cassie took a lead and said,
"Your voice was jammed you third rate crooner!" She widened her eyes.
"How could you..." At that moment, five lights, quick as lightning, flashed themselves between Arborisa and Ashley and Andros. When the light disappeared, stood five colored rangers. They were Red, Yellow, Black, Blue, and White respectively. Their outfits were predominately the colors mentioned, and had some odd geometric shapes to them. Looking a bit like ninjas themselves, the red ranger, in a male voice sounding like it was submerged in water said,
"Power of Water, Power of Light, Rangers of Aquitar Unite!" Arborisa backed away a tiny bit. and said...
"The A-Alien Rangers? This wasn't part of the plan at all!" She turned wildly from both sets of rangers and said, "Those who run away today, will live to fight another day!" She disappeared as the petals scattered in the wind.
TO BE CONTINUED...