Dark Future
Chapter 12- Shine pt 2
Here is is folks, chapter 12. It took a while to do because I had no idea where to take this. But alas, here it is. There is a seriously in sane ending, but it will bring some much needed action to break into the new direction. All I can say is that there will be a spinoff about Zeo and all of that soon. This story is going to begin ushering that story line in. Anywho, REVIEW!
A soft breeze whipped up from the rocky crags below. Tommy lifts his wrist up and talks into his communicator. "Are you sure this is the right place, Alpha?" He turns around to face the rangers.
"The readings are off the charts Tommy. I am sure that this is the place."
"What is it with these guys." Aisha drops her hands to her hips and tosses her hair over her shoulder.
"Come again?" Adam faces her, his hand finding it's way into Rocky's.
"I mean, sure the sky is all blah and yeah, quarries are pretty scary in a way, but still, what kind of monster just sits out in the open waiting for us. They know we're bad ass, they know we're pretty much hot, " Brad smiles at this. Aisha always found a way to compliment us even when she was ranting. "But they still just sit in the same old place and wait."
"She has a point." Rocky speaks up. "I mean really. They should know that we don't fall for these lame traps anymore." He chuckles and pats Adam on the shoulder. Adam doesn't respond. Then he notices the same dead pan looks on all of their faces.
"Good job." Kimberly smiles flatly. "You just jinxed us all to hell."
The rangers slowly start making their descent to the bottom of the quarry. Rocky takes a second and follows suit. "What? I was just making a-" He stops as the atmosphere grows heavier.
"Please tell me you all felt that." Adam stops on a large boulder and looks out to the wide opening before him. Nothing. Thunder booms across the sky. The rangers tense up in prep. Without warning the rocks beneath them gave way.
The cold pats of rain woke Brad. His vision was blurry but could tell when he opened his eyes that he was still in the quarry. Everything was spinning. How far had he fallen. He moved his head only to see the black sky staring back at him. Thick drops of rain began to replace the gentle pats. He could barely see where he had fallen from.
A few feet away Tommy stirred too. The White Ranger was on hit stomach. He opened his eyes with a flash of lightning. Yards away he could see Rocky and Kimberly. They were moving too. He began to crane his neck around for the others, but was abruptly stopped when he felt a heavy pressure on his neck. From the feel of it, he could tell it was a foot. Then the voice spoke. "Not one move, or I have them all killed." It was with another flash of lightning that he could make out the shapes in the darkness. It was the cyborgs. The foot pressed down just a hair harder, cutting off most of Tommy's air passage.
"Thomas, Thomas, Thomas..." The voice was cold and uncaring, however he knew it well. Tommy just couldn't place it with the face. "Quite the predicament you have yourself in here, my friend. I mean really, seriously. I could kill you all right now... unless..." The foot let up and Tommy could breathe freely. He stood up slowly, his body aching in pain from the fall. His mouth dropped.
"Jason." The blue ranger choked out, staggering to his feet as well. His blonde locks hug in this wet ropes around his face.
The black helmet slowly turned around to face Brad. Lightning crashed through the sky illuminating the gold etching over the body.
"Is this another cyborg?" Tommy was at the ready. If this was another cyborg it would finally be a six on six battle. Five borgs were bad, and that was with an extra man. It was understandable having six for an even fight, at least on a strategic standpoint. What he didn't understand was why Brad had called him Jason. There was no way he could be the same one.
"Not exactly." The mysterious stranger answered for him. He lifted his gloved hands and gently removed the clasps at the base of his helmet. It slid off without ease, revealing the mangled face of a once human man. Except where his left temple would have a hairline, Jason had a thick silver cable coming from his ear, and running across his face into his large silver eye. In the center of the bulb was a pulsing green light. His square chin was replaced with now smooth silver and ran up his jaw and began to cover his bottom lip. Small red wires were gathered at his neck and ran underneath the collar of his suit. Jason Lee Scott was no longer what one might call a human,but he was still very much alive. This sight took Brad's breath away, almost as if he had never seen Jason's half robotic appearance as well.
The other rangers were now taking notice of what was happening, and slowly rising. Brad took a step forward,but a strong hand gripped his shoulder and pulled him back firmly. He looked back to see the black triangle symbol on the Blue Zeo Cyborg's face. Emotionless as always it stared back at him, uncaring.
"I bet you're wondering why? In fact I know you are." Without warning Jason swung a heavy arm at Tommy and tossed him back onto the wet gravel again.
"TOMMY!" Brad had barely noticed the other rangers had all gotten up to their feet. Just like he had been held back by the blue robot, they were being contained as well, and Kimberly, to no success, was fighting to get to her boyfriend. Brad's eyes just met with Adam's. The black ranger could see the animalistic fear in Brad's eyes. Clearly this was bad.
"It's funny really." Jason's voice commanded attention. The ranger's complied. "The squirt here came to the past to get the brokeback ranger story back on track and inadvertently changed the future for the worse." Jason turned to Brad and began to pace forward.
Brad almost fell back into the cyborg, hoping for some sort of comfort, but only received hard hands keeping him still. "You see, you created a nice little wave, and my master had to go and revamp a few plans to make sure things went accordingly." Jason was dangerously close to Brad, their breath lingering together in the air. The gold ranger lifted Brad's chin up so their gazes would meet. "And BOY did he make a little surprise for you guys." He reached up over Brad's shoulders and pulled the blue cyborg's helmet off. Brad couldn't see what was staring at the back of his head, but from the gasps of the other rangers he could tell it wasn't good.
"Oh God..." Aisha stuttered out, bracing against the grip of the cyborg holding her in place.
"OH DADDY!" Jason slapped Brad gently on the cheek. He then gripped the blue ranger by the shirt and pulled him away from the cyborg. That was when he finally saw the face staring back at him.
"NO!" The cries echoed through the night. Blood curdling, heart wrenching sobs followed. Brad freed from Jason's grip and ran to the cyborg. "No...". Rocky's cold face stared back at Brad. His chestnut eyes were dim. They lacked the jovial soul that was usually behind them. His mouth lacked the permanent smile.
A few seconds passed and all the rangers could do was watch their fellow teammate slip slowly into a mix of fury and panic. Finally Someone spoke. "Monster..."
Adam's voice barely carried across the expanse of the quarry. Jason's head cocked to the side, hearing the name thrown at him.
"I'm sorry... what was that, Park?" Adam lifted his head, eyes filled with tears at seeing his lover's skin being paraded around on a glorified appliance.
"I said you fucking monster." The black ranger broke out in a fury and began to fight at Jason. It did nothing as his cyborg just grabbed him and threw him to the ground. Jason gripped Brad by the back of the head and ripped him up to his feet. The blue ranger's screams of pain rung in the ears of the rangers standing by. It killed them to watch this happen, but there was nothing they could do. They were hurt, and their communicators were on their wrists and they were being held in position. Even without injuries, these cyborgs could stomp them instantly. They had to wait for a window.
Tommy was on his feet now. The blue borg was watching him closely. Tommy was watching others. He finally caught Aisha's eye. She looked at him with a fear that he had never seen in her eyes before. He understood it. They could all really die here. Jason had the upper hand, he had them all surrounded. It would be nothing to make the kill order. Now wasn't the time to think about that. Tommy flashes a number three with his fingers to let Aisha know his plan. She nodded slightly, and began to get Kim's attention.
Jason pulled Bradley over the Black Ranger. The others just gazed in fear. "You want to see a monster..." Jason nuzzled into Brad's neck, inhaling the scent of fear. "Number four... lose the mask."
On command, the green cyborg withdrew his helmet, and staring back was the face of Adam Park. "Wow, talk about a love to last the ages. Tell me Brad, do you think he'd still have fucked you knowing you were the reason all of his friends were gutted and turned into mere shells of human beings while machines controlled their minds, making them helpless killing machines?"
"No..." It was all Brad could say now between tears.
"Ain't psychological warfare fun." Jason smiled to the group and ran a gloved hand up under Brad's shirt, peaking at his neck. He pulled on the cotton fabric until it finally gave, exposing his bare chest. The blue ranger began to fight back, kicking and screaming until Jason threw him to the ground and gave him a right hook, knocking him out.
"I know I would..." With those word's Jason ran his tongue over Brad's tear covered cheek. It was on. The rangers began to fight even more violently with the cyborgs, screaming at Jason to stop it. Screaming became pleading. Jason relished in the fact that the rangers were there. He ran a hand down Brad's abdomen, slowly getting to the waist of his jeans. Before he could get to the denim, a large object struck him from behind, clattering him to the ground. Tommy stood above the gold cyborg, dripping with blood and rain.
"NOW!" Tommy's voice echoed through the night.
Kimberly elbowed the phantom pink Ranger in the stomach, and followed through with a kick to the chest. The cyborg barely faltered back, but it gave her the time needed to grip her communicator and teleport out in a pink flash of light. Aisha collapsed into a sweep kick and drove her shoulder into the yellow cyborg's side, following suit with a teleport.
The blue cyborg made his way over to the commotion,meanwhile Rocky elbowed the red cyborg right in the middle of the star on his mask. The cyborg was quick and gripped an arm around his neck, but Rocky just used his weight and threw the red borg into the fast approaching blue borg. Adam used his position on the ground to hit the green borg in the back of the knees and then scissor kicking him in the chest, and pulling him to the ground. Instantly he caught Rocky's eyes and the red ranger made his way over to Adam.
On the way however he forgot about one person. Jason caught him in rout and delivered a heavy punch to Rocky's ribs. It was a blow that could cripple any man, but the red ranger was barely phased. He instead returned the blow with two fast jabs to the jaw and then a thick upper cut.
Jason hit the ground. Rocky was about to finish the job, but Adam stopped him."ROCKY!" The red ranger ripped his face around, blind fury in his eyes.
"We have to go, NOW!" The black ranger was already on his feet. he gripped Rocky by the shirt and pulled him in close. Adam pressed his communicator just in time to dodge blasts from the cyborg's pistols.
Finally Tommy gripped Brad by the arm and pulled him up, instantly gripping his communicator and disappearing in a white burst of light. From his place on the ground, Jason just laughed maniacally. This wasn't a loss at all. He was taking the blue ranger apart piece my piece.
The dressing room was a riot with activity. People were dodging in and out of way, makeup was being applied, and hairspray was thick in the air. The Angel Grove Idol show was going to begin in less than 30 minutes, and all the room was nerves. Especially Brad. After the events two days ago the term 'on edge' was a loose comparison. But there was a silver lining to the whole deal.
"It's time to stop being the victim." He said to himself. The blue ranger looked back at himself in the mirror. He was 16. A Kid in many people's eyes. But he had experienced more than that of many people four times his age. Back home he would be treated like an adult. Maybe that was his problem. He was still living in the year 2037. He was here, in 2006. It was time for him to act like it.
"You okay?" A hand lay rest on his back. "You look like you're thinking about something."
Luca sat down on the counter beside Brad. His eyes were warm, his smile caring. Brad brushed some hair behind his ear and gave a weak attempt at a smile."I will be."
"Hey I um..." Luca got down on his knee to be a little closer to eye level to brad."I um, well, after the show..."
Brad smiled inwardly. Was he really going to do this. Was Brad ready to make something here work other than being a ranger, more than being with the rangers he knew before. Was he ready to let go of his old life? Was he ready to let go of Adam?
"Do you like movies?" Luca laughed a bit. "I mean with me."
"Huh?" Brad had no idea that Luca could be so clumsy with words. It was cute.
"I mean, do you want to go to the movies with me, sometime. Like tonight, after the contest."Luca smiled. It was a great smile to have.
"I uh..." Was he ready?That was the million dollar question.
"Oh. Um, y'know, that's cool. I totally get it." Luca's smile fell, crestfallen.
Without warning Brad pushed forward, their lips connecting. Luca kissed back gently. It was pure bliss, candy canes, cotton balls, fireworks. It was real, and right. Not to mention compared to Brad's last beau, legal. It was foot popping good. And then it was done.
"Wow." Brad smiled inwards.
"Can I take that as a yes?" Luca laughed.
The opening chords strung and the lights blasted bright, Brad was center stage.
You make me feel
Out of my element
Like I'm walking on
Broken glass
You make me feel
In slow motion
And we're moving
Way too fast
The room was rocking. The last contestant was the one with the most current song. And that was Brad. His voice was smooth and sweet with a little bit of a rock edge. He looked amazing in a pair of faded jeans, a silvery light blue long sleeved tee with a silvery white hooded puffy vest over it.
At the front of the stage the rangers all stood, a mixture of pride and happiness washing over the five seniors. Adam had rigged the stage fans to start blowing on his command. He pressed the button and a fury of wind began to blow, carrying with it fake snow. He just smiled at the group. "Anything to help..."
Were you right
Was I wrong
Were you weak
Was I strong yeah
Both of us broken
Caught in the moment
We lived
And we loved
And we hurt
And we jumped yeah
Brad was rocking the stage hardcore. Everybody was into his act. It was like he was a different person. He had arrived.
And the planets all aligned
When you looked
Into my eyes
And just like that
The Chemicals React
