Chapter Twelve
Sting of Betrayal
I just wanted to make sure that this chappie was as good as I could make it, and actually put in my author's notes, this is not a new chapter obviously, but I will get the new one out soon. I promise. Thanks for all your reviews, they keep my trucking! (This is for later on in the chapter- )... I know that the Time Force helmets don't do that but I'm the authoress so I changed it a bit... Thanks to cmar for pointing out that A/N in the middle of a chapter are kind of distracting... I never really realized it before. Satori B.
Jen fought the Cyclobots automatically; punching, dodging, kicking and blasting them almost as an afterthought. The thing that weighed most heavily on her mind wasn't the mindless robots that were coming at her from all sides, but rather where one charismatic red ranger was during this insane battle.
'Where in all the nine hells is Wes!' she thought, blasting a Cyclobot into a wall of the unnatural fire and thus saving the Quantum Ranger from being toasted. He nodded a quick thanks to the pink ranger before diving into the midst of yet another swarm of robots.
"Jen, this is too easy, I think that this might just be a distraction. They're just throwing themselves at us!" Lucas' voice came through her helmet and her worried frown deepened even farther.
"I've noticed Lucas, we'll have to play their game and wait to see what they're getting at."
"I don't like it Jen."
"Neither do I Lucas, Jen out."
She set her shoulders and dove into another mess of robots, following Eric's example and starting blasting anything that dared come her way. She was vaguely aware that she was heading into the center of the battle. They were trying to hem them in.
"Guys, they're circling us! Get back to the outside!" she cried into the communicator. How could she have been so stupid, to fall for the oldest trick in the book? Taking her frustration out on the mindless automatons, she noticed that her friends were doing their best to make it to better positions.
A harsh blast from one of the Cyclobot's lasers hit her from behind and she fell to the ground. Jen braced herself for more pain, she was aware of the numb sensation traveling from her mid-back her to toes as a result of the first true hit, but she was spared more agony.
Not only had she not been hit anymore, but it seemed that the fighting itself had paused, or at least slowed down infinitely. The only sound that Jen's ringing ears could make out was the low, far away roar of the strange, mutated fire.
Struggling, she pulled herself to her feet.
She expected to see the robots surrounding her. She expected to see the Cyclobots beating her friends as they were held defenseless. She expected all manners of unpleasant things, but nothing on Earth could have prepared her for what she saw when she regained enough mobility to look up.
"Hello Jen, prepare to die."
"Wes?"
And indeed, it was him, though he wasn't dressed in anything that Jen had ever seen before. His Red Knight armor was now black and silver and the beautiful sword that was entrusted to him was glowing and reeked of evil. He grinned, but it wasn't the endearing, bashful and adorable smile that he often gave her, this one was a sadistic grin that spoke only of finding joy in others' pain. And it wasn't only his smile that was distorted, but also his eyes. They had changed from their friendly blue-green glow to an empty midnight black.
Jen was confused. What was going on? This couldn't be Wes.
"What happened to you?" she whispered.
She wasn't aware of the other rangers stop in their struggles to stare at the now dark ranger. Trip was looking like his worst nightmare was coming true and Katie and Lucas were staring hopelessly. Unbelieving, and devastated that their friend was now wearing the enemy's colours.
Eric, on the other hand, was now fighting insanely to be free of the many robots that were latching on to his arms and legs, preventing him from moving any closer to the center of the circle. Finally freeing himself, though not without considerable effort on his behalf, he struggled to keep himself upright.
"Wes, what the hell do you think you're doing?!"
But before he could say anymore, the robots had regrouped and overpowered him, leading him to screaming at Wes unintelligibly from beneath the grasping arms of the mindless Cyclobots.
"Wes... what's going on?" Katie cried, she couldn't bring herself to use her super strength, the will to fight gone with the thought that Wes might have betrayed them.
A spine-tingling laugh made Jen's weakened body shudder as the shivers aggravated her bruised parts. But, thankfully, the deranged laugh hadn't come from Wes, or what appeared to be Wes. Jen denied that something with eyes so cold and empty, couldn't possibly be Wes, no matter how much it looked like him on the surface.
"My dear Pink Ranger, this is not the Wes that you know. Rather the shadow that he keeps hidden away in the dark and lonely corners of his mind, waiting for the chance that he might let him out to wreak havoc. I have given him the opportunity and means to do so."
The thing laughed again and stepped out from behind Wes. It was a mutant, though this one seemed more intelligent and filled with more evil than any she had ever faced before. He was covered in a twisting cloak that hide most of his body from view. But from what the cloak DID let show, Jen saw that his entire body was a mass of slowly whirling shadows.
Realization hit Jen harder than the robot's blast.
"You!" she spat out venomously, while the others looked on in pain and confusion. Wes, however, looked down at her charred and dirt-smeared ranger suit indifferently, a stinging sensation made its home in Jen's eyes at his uncaring look. She stiffened her resolve and pushed herself to her feet, all the time glaring daggers at the shadowy mutant from beneath her helmet. "It was YOU! YOU're the mutant from Wes' dreams! You're the cause of all this! You're the one who turned him against us." She stepped forward, stumbling slightly, still regaining the use of her stunned muscles. "Let him go," she hissed.
"You pathetic Ranger," the mutant replied condescendingly to her tirade, not affected in the least. "Allow me to introduce myself." He gave her and the other rangers a mock bow. "I am Psykincon, master of the Nightmare Realm. And I shall only take the glorious credit for the dreams of your precious Red Ranger and the mastermind behind the beautiful fires plaguing your precious city, but Wes came to out side by his own accord. Like I said, I only gave him the opportunity to break free."
"No," Jen heard Katie whisper. Lucas and Eric were glaring vehemently, but were looking uncertain. Their thoughts were clearly written in their expressions: Wes wouldn't have gone over voluntarily, would he?
"YOU'RE LYING!" Jen screamed, flying towards him in a rage, but quick as lightning, Wes was there to intercept her. He held on to her wrists with python-like strength preventing her from making it all the way to Psykincon. Wes wrapped his arms around her and held her still, forcing her to be pressed tightly against his muscular and fully armored body.
She felt the tears of frustration that had threatened to fall earlier slide down her face at this irony. Any other time, Jen would have done anything to be in the position she was in now. But now Wes' embrace had none of the warmth and safety she'd envisioned, only a smothering and painful reminder that she had to do something quickly.
"No, I'm sorry my dear Ranger, but I'm telling you the truth ask my Black Knight for his side of the story."
Jen let the tinted visor of her helmet slide back so that she could look at the once Red Ranger more clearly.
"Wes. Please, don't say that he's telling the truth. Please."
"Come on Wes," she heard her teammates echo, "you're not like this... You're not evil."
Wes, or rather, the Dark Knight, looked down at her, malice in his eyes.
"All right then," he said softly, squeezing her ribs even more, he moved so that his head was only inches away from hers. He was so close that she could feel his breath on her cheek. Jen trembled in fear. This wasn't Wes. This wasn't the man she had abused, then finally befriended and, just recently, had admitted to herself that she had come to love. He came even closer, until he was so close that his lips gently brushed against her ear when he whispered, "I won't say it then."
Jen froze, and felt her heart shatter into a million, tiny pieces.
Then, still in her ear, he finished whispering –
"Are you ready to die Jen?"
Her eyes widened in fear.
She couldn't bring herself to move, even when he let go of her wrists and she fell, weak-kneed to the battle-scarred ground.
With insane calmness, he drew the black sword from the scabbard belted around his waist and stood admiring the blade that shone with an eerie pale blue glow. He looked back to her, and she noticed with mounting fear that his eyes had changed, but not to the comforting color of blue-green that she had admired so much, but to the same pale blue that encircled his sword.
He lifted his sword and the only thought that penetrated Jen's locked mind was that Jen would never get to feel Wes' arms around her again, that instead she would be hewn to pieces by those same strong arms.
"Goodbye Jen."
I just wanted to make sure that this chappie was as good as I could make it, and actually put in my author's notes, this is not a new chapter obviously, but I will get the new one out soon. I promise. Thanks for all your reviews, they keep my trucking! (This is for later on in the chapter- )... I know that the Time Force helmets don't do that but I'm the authoress so I changed it a bit... Thanks to cmar for pointing out that A/N in the middle of a chapter are kind of distracting... I never really realized it before. Satori B.
Jen fought the Cyclobots automatically; punching, dodging, kicking and blasting them almost as an afterthought. The thing that weighed most heavily on her mind wasn't the mindless robots that were coming at her from all sides, but rather where one charismatic red ranger was during this insane battle.
'Where in all the nine hells is Wes!' she thought, blasting a Cyclobot into a wall of the unnatural fire and thus saving the Quantum Ranger from being toasted. He nodded a quick thanks to the pink ranger before diving into the midst of yet another swarm of robots.
"Jen, this is too easy, I think that this might just be a distraction. They're just throwing themselves at us!" Lucas' voice came through her helmet and her worried frown deepened even farther.
"I've noticed Lucas, we'll have to play their game and wait to see what they're getting at."
"I don't like it Jen."
"Neither do I Lucas, Jen out."
She set her shoulders and dove into another mess of robots, following Eric's example and starting blasting anything that dared come her way. She was vaguely aware that she was heading into the center of the battle. They were trying to hem them in.
"Guys, they're circling us! Get back to the outside!" she cried into the communicator. How could she have been so stupid, to fall for the oldest trick in the book? Taking her frustration out on the mindless automatons, she noticed that her friends were doing their best to make it to better positions.
A harsh blast from one of the Cyclobot's lasers hit her from behind and she fell to the ground. Jen braced herself for more pain, she was aware of the numb sensation traveling from her mid-back her to toes as a result of the first true hit, but she was spared more agony.
Not only had she not been hit anymore, but it seemed that the fighting itself had paused, or at least slowed down infinitely. The only sound that Jen's ringing ears could make out was the low, far away roar of the strange, mutated fire.
Struggling, she pulled herself to her feet.
She expected to see the robots surrounding her. She expected to see the Cyclobots beating her friends as they were held defenseless. She expected all manners of unpleasant things, but nothing on Earth could have prepared her for what she saw when she regained enough mobility to look up.
"Hello Jen, prepare to die."
"Wes?"
And indeed, it was him, though he wasn't dressed in anything that Jen had ever seen before. His Red Knight armor was now black and silver and the beautiful sword that was entrusted to him was glowing and reeked of evil. He grinned, but it wasn't the endearing, bashful and adorable smile that he often gave her, this one was a sadistic grin that spoke only of finding joy in others' pain. And it wasn't only his smile that was distorted, but also his eyes. They had changed from their friendly blue-green glow to an empty midnight black.
Jen was confused. What was going on? This couldn't be Wes.
"What happened to you?" she whispered.
She wasn't aware of the other rangers stop in their struggles to stare at the now dark ranger. Trip was looking like his worst nightmare was coming true and Katie and Lucas were staring hopelessly. Unbelieving, and devastated that their friend was now wearing the enemy's colours.
Eric, on the other hand, was now fighting insanely to be free of the many robots that were latching on to his arms and legs, preventing him from moving any closer to the center of the circle. Finally freeing himself, though not without considerable effort on his behalf, he struggled to keep himself upright.
"Wes, what the hell do you think you're doing?!"
But before he could say anymore, the robots had regrouped and overpowered him, leading him to screaming at Wes unintelligibly from beneath the grasping arms of the mindless Cyclobots.
"Wes... what's going on?" Katie cried, she couldn't bring herself to use her super strength, the will to fight gone with the thought that Wes might have betrayed them.
A spine-tingling laugh made Jen's weakened body shudder as the shivers aggravated her bruised parts. But, thankfully, the deranged laugh hadn't come from Wes, or what appeared to be Wes. Jen denied that something with eyes so cold and empty, couldn't possibly be Wes, no matter how much it looked like him on the surface.
"My dear Pink Ranger, this is not the Wes that you know. Rather the shadow that he keeps hidden away in the dark and lonely corners of his mind, waiting for the chance that he might let him out to wreak havoc. I have given him the opportunity and means to do so."
The thing laughed again and stepped out from behind Wes. It was a mutant, though this one seemed more intelligent and filled with more evil than any she had ever faced before. He was covered in a twisting cloak that hide most of his body from view. But from what the cloak DID let show, Jen saw that his entire body was a mass of slowly whirling shadows.
Realization hit Jen harder than the robot's blast.
"You!" she spat out venomously, while the others looked on in pain and confusion. Wes, however, looked down at her charred and dirt-smeared ranger suit indifferently, a stinging sensation made its home in Jen's eyes at his uncaring look. She stiffened her resolve and pushed herself to her feet, all the time glaring daggers at the shadowy mutant from beneath her helmet. "It was YOU! YOU're the mutant from Wes' dreams! You're the cause of all this! You're the one who turned him against us." She stepped forward, stumbling slightly, still regaining the use of her stunned muscles. "Let him go," she hissed.
"You pathetic Ranger," the mutant replied condescendingly to her tirade, not affected in the least. "Allow me to introduce myself." He gave her and the other rangers a mock bow. "I am Psykincon, master of the Nightmare Realm. And I shall only take the glorious credit for the dreams of your precious Red Ranger and the mastermind behind the beautiful fires plaguing your precious city, but Wes came to out side by his own accord. Like I said, I only gave him the opportunity to break free."
"No," Jen heard Katie whisper. Lucas and Eric were glaring vehemently, but were looking uncertain. Their thoughts were clearly written in their expressions: Wes wouldn't have gone over voluntarily, would he?
"YOU'RE LYING!" Jen screamed, flying towards him in a rage, but quick as lightning, Wes was there to intercept her. He held on to her wrists with python-like strength preventing her from making it all the way to Psykincon. Wes wrapped his arms around her and held her still, forcing her to be pressed tightly against his muscular and fully armored body.
She felt the tears of frustration that had threatened to fall earlier slide down her face at this irony. Any other time, Jen would have done anything to be in the position she was in now. But now Wes' embrace had none of the warmth and safety she'd envisioned, only a smothering and painful reminder that she had to do something quickly.
"No, I'm sorry my dear Ranger, but I'm telling you the truth ask my Black Knight for his side of the story."
Jen let the tinted visor of her helmet slide back so that she could look at the once Red Ranger more clearly.
"Wes. Please, don't say that he's telling the truth. Please."
"Come on Wes," she heard her teammates echo, "you're not like this... You're not evil."
Wes, or rather, the Dark Knight, looked down at her, malice in his eyes.
"All right then," he said softly, squeezing her ribs even more, he moved so that his head was only inches away from hers. He was so close that she could feel his breath on her cheek. Jen trembled in fear. This wasn't Wes. This wasn't the man she had abused, then finally befriended and, just recently, had admitted to herself that she had come to love. He came even closer, until he was so close that his lips gently brushed against her ear when he whispered, "I won't say it then."
Jen froze, and felt her heart shatter into a million, tiny pieces.
Then, still in her ear, he finished whispering –
"Are you ready to die Jen?"
Her eyes widened in fear.
She couldn't bring herself to move, even when he let go of her wrists and she fell, weak-kneed to the battle-scarred ground.
With insane calmness, he drew the black sword from the scabbard belted around his waist and stood admiring the blade that shone with an eerie pale blue glow. He looked back to her, and she noticed with mounting fear that his eyes had changed, but not to the comforting color of blue-green that she had admired so much, but to the same pale blue that encircled his sword.
He lifted his sword and the only thought that penetrated Jen's locked mind was that Jen would never get to feel Wes' arms around her again, that instead she would be hewn to pieces by those same strong arms.
"Goodbye Jen."