Wendy strode into the Ranger Union, having just gotten back from a Quest with her Staraptor. "Hey Sven," she called. "Are Kate and Keith not back yet?"
The male Ranger shook his head.
"Really? They've been gone since before I left. Do you think..." She trailed off. "You don't think something went wrong, do you?"
Sven held up his Styler. "I was about to find out." He tapped a button on the Styler. "Voicemail! This is Sven. Kate, report."
The Top Rangers listened in silence, waiting for an answer that didn't come.
"I'll try Keith.." Sven murmured. "Keith, come in!"
He picked up almost immediately. "Keith here."
"Why isn't Kate answering? Is she still with you?" Sven barked into the Styler.
"She's with me, but, uh...can't exactly answer you."
"Why not?" Wendy wondered.
Keith continued. "She's been through a lot. When I bring her to the Ranger Union, you all need to give her some space. Must've been traumatizing...won't stop beating herself up over it." He disconnected, leaving Sven unsatisfied.
Wendy looked over at him. "Wasn't Heath with them?"
"That's right! I'll try him." He repeated the process. "Voicemail! Heath, what is your status?"
Silence. Then static.
Sven paused, then repeated, "Heath, what is your status?"
Still static.
Sven tried one more time. "Heath, do you copy?"
There was finally an answer. "How does this thing work? Can you hear me?"
Wendy held her breath. "That's not Heath," she muttered.
Sven replied to the unknown speaker. "This is Top Ranger Sven, and the Styler you are using belongs to Heath. Where is he?"
"Ranger? What's a Ranger...oh yeah."
"Will you please just answer me?" Sven snapped. "Where is Heath?"
"Oh, that big guy who tried to wreck our Miniremos? I'm afraid that information is strictly confidential to members of Team Debonairs only. Not sure why, I'm pretty sure the guy's dead... Oh! That reminds me. Don't try to contact this Styler again, or you'll be dealing with the boss!" The young woman on the other end audibly fumbled with the controls for a few moments before finally figuring out how to disconnect.
Sven drew in a deep breath. "Impossible."
The two whirled around as they heard the unmistakable sound of the door opening. Keith stumbled forward, leading Kate inside. Wendy let out a low whistle. "She's worse than I thought." Keith silently agreed, and glanced at his charge.
Kate was staring at nothing in particular. Her expression was blank, and she didn't even seem to have registered the fact that Keith had taken her to the Union. "Heath is dead," she whispered. "I killed him."
"No, you didn't," Keith assured. " You need to stop telling yourself that; it was just an accident."
Tears welled in her eyes. "If I hadn't...if I hadn't let him go in alone..." she sobbed.
The others exchanged knowing glances. "Let's take you home," said Wendy softly. "I'll carry you on Staraptor."
Albeit still weeping, Kate suddenly snapped out of her emotionless 'trance'. "No!" Her face contorted. "I have to...have to go get him."
"Kate, you can't. He's gone. There was nothing you could've done, or could do now," Sven replied quietly.
She glared at him. "I can't accept that he's dead, I just can't!" Slowly she looked down at the floor sadly. "He was a Ranger for one day," she murmured. "And I didn't even get to see him one last time..."
Sven and Wendy snapped to attention. "What do you mean?" Wendy demanded.
"Ice took...Ice took his body." Kate stumbled over the word 'body'.
Sven sighed. "What do you know about Team Debonairs?"
Keith blinked at him. "They're what's left of Dim Sun. We were dealing with them earlier; that's why we were gone so long. Why?"
"I think we know where his body is," Sven explained, gesturing toward himself and Wendy.
"Wakey wakey!" a slightly annoying female voice sneered from above. "Oh, come on, you big lug. Get up already!"
Heath groaned and blinked open his eyes. Harsh, bright light blinded him temporarily as his hands immediately flew to his head. He felt a thick bandage wrapped around the point of impact. Pressing down on it lightly resulted in a throbbing pain; he left his head alone.
When his vision cleared, he could see a scarcely clothed lady in pink smirking above him. "Welcome back, Sleeping Beauty. I hope you remember me," she added with a fake frown.
Heath's eyes narrowed. "Lavana. I remember." His eyes traveled across the room. "Where am I?"
"In the infirmary," she revealed, "duh!"
"...I not dead? Or dreaming?"
"Of course not. Oh, and I do hope," she added, "that that outfit of yours is just pretend. You didn't seriously sign up to become a Ranger, did you?" 'Ranger' was spoken with much contempt.
Heath remained expressionless. "Maybe."
Lavana wrinkled up her nose in disgust. "Well, we can't have that, can we? I'll have to report this to Kincaid."
Heath's gaze followed her as she departed. Not a moment after she was gone, he hastily attempted to sit up. His skull felt like it was made of lead, and he could barely keep upright. He grimaced.
He needed to escape, but he had no idea where he was. Most likely the Oil Field Hideout, as he recalled that the grunts he encountered earlier were not able to simply locate Altru Tower.
Suddenly, he remembered about his Styler, and searched himself for it. He found nothing.
Disappointed, he resolved to finding some other way of contacting the Ranger Union, and attempted to stand.
He was soon out the door and found himself in a familiar location. Definitely the Oil Field Hideout. He knew he had to get to the top, where he could fly a Staraptor to the mainland; but he also had to find his Styler first, or he would be stuck underwater forever.
He stood in the middle of the hall for a few minutes, mulling over his options. He couldn't confront Lavana without his Styler, so he had to avoid her sight. He also couldn't let himself be spotted by too many grunts, as they might report him to one of their higher-ups, who could easily lock him in a cell.
Heath didn't like his plan.