AN: The second 'Wham' chapter arrives. No more 'Whams' until…[Censored]
Chapter Twenty: The Talk
It couldn't happen like this.
He turned around slowly, hoping that what he had heard had been directed at his double…but, like all things, it wasn't the case. Standing at the top of the first flight of stairs was his mother, still dressed in her work clothes. Cursing himself for his foolishness at not teleporting directly to his room, he stretched out with his mind to see who else was home. Thankfully, he only sensed his mother's presence. He faced her and noted, for the first time, how shocked and confused she looked, emotions that shone through her voice.
"What was that just now?"
Sighing to himself, he ran a hand through his hair and sent a quick mental communication to Rachelle that something had come up and to show the Crystal Rangers, Phoebe and Bree around the Ultra Cavern. He had a strange feeling he would be explaining things to his mother for quite some time; that is, if she got over her shock sometime soon. If not…well, he would have to grant Phoebe her powers tomorrow. Why was it that almost everything remotely bad always seemed to happen to him?
"Mum, what did you see? What were you doing?"
Yin shook her head slowly as she walked down the stairs to stand face to face with the boy who looked like her son. She had dropped all suspicion that he was involved with the Rangers in some way as he had acted the same as he had before…but now, she wasn't so sure.
"I was upstairs watching the news conference the Orange Ranger was holding. You are, were, in your room doing your studying and I heard a crackle downstairs and I saw the Orange Ranger…and…and…"
He nodded his head, aware that teleportation was always associated with a slight crackling noise that sounded slightly electronic. Placing a hand on her right arm, he gently led her to the living room and guided her onto the leather sofa. Any second now, she would be snapping out of her shock and proclaiming he wasn't her son. Of course, he had a plan for that as well. Kneeling down in front of his mother, he waited for her eyes to lock with his and spoke, taking great care to ensure his tone was soft and steady.
"Mum, sit down. I have to tell you something and, while you may not believe it at first, it is the complete and honest truth."
The words struck a familiar chord in Yin's mind and she searched for where she had heard them before. Ah, that was it; she had heard those words from the blonde reporter that had grown extremely close to her son. Of course, there was a strange feeling growing in her gut that the blonde had known when they talked last…
"Jacqui…those words came from her as well. Does she know?"
"I'll come to that in a moment. First, sit down and..."
Yin shrank back from the person in front of her. Now she knew that whoever this beast was, he wasn't her son. She saw his shoulders sag and heard a sigh escape from his lips. She just wished she wasn't so far from the phone. Maybe if she screamed, her real son would come down…that was it! She would call Weihan down from his room and expose the doppelganger for the monster he was!
"No! You're not my son! Weihan! Come down here please!"
Her voice echoed through the house and Weihan fought the urge to roll his eyes. He heard his duplicate come out of his room and begin to come down the stairs. Holding tightly to his mental link with AJ, he could feel her amusement at the strange twist of fate he had found himself caught up in. If he concentrated hard enough, he could almost hear the news report on the TV ane replay of his statement about their whereabouts on 9/11. He was sure Emma would begin her defrosting soon, but if Tara joined up first…he shook his head slightly as he heard his double speak and stop in surprise as he saw him.
"Hi Mum, what's…ah. Oh. Everything all right with the four of them?"
He stood up slowly and shook his head. Stepping towards the duplicate, he placed his hand on the right shoulder and saw his double shudder once. A bright flash of light lit up the area and his double was reabsorbed back into his body. He hoped that the doubles of the three girls were still fine; otherwise there would be Hell to pay when they returned home. However, as he sifted through the memories, he found that they had informed their parents that they would be having a small study group with a few other people after class. Even though it was the first week, there was still a lot of information. Shaking his mind free of those thoughts, he could see the horror slowly spreading across his mother's face and waited for the inevitable outburst.
"What…what did you do to my son you impostor!"
He shook his head and looked up at the ceiling, willing himself to stay calm. The only good thing he could think of was that Jabarkas wouldn't be able to spy on him and add another target to his hit list. It was fortunate that he had the foresight to reapply the protection wards a few months back. Of course, he had spent a few more minutes ensuring that there wouldn't be as much residue as last time but it was worth it for the added protection from scrying.
"Mum, calm down. I can make duplicates of myself at will! It's the reason why you didn't get calls about my absences from class every day. Just watch."
Relaxing his body, he closed his eyes and imagined himself in front of him. A gasp of surprise and awe ripped itself from his mother and he knew it was successful. Well, this was the first time he had tried it so soon after reabsorbing another double and he wasn't so sure how long the cooling off period would be. Opening his eyes, he nodded at his duplicate and sent it upstairs to continue studying. He sighed to himself as his mother's voice sounded from behind him.
"I don't believe it…when?"
Knowing that the easy part was well and truly over and that his mother was beginning to believe this wasn't some sort of elaborate prank he was pulling, he crouched down in front of her and began speaking. There were some things that he wouldn't speak to her about as they were things that would both worry and freak her out. He decided to skip the history of the Ultra Crystals and their creation as it would confuse her.
"Around the middle of July 1998, I was given an opportunity to become the Orange Ultra Ranger. Well, not really given the opportunity as much as I was chosen specifically. I'm not sure why either. My first battle was about an hour or so after I received the Power."
Yin cast her mind back to those images she had seen on the news after returning from work. Images of the strange new Ranger and his destruction of the giant monster that had defeated the Power Rangers flashed to the forefront of her mind. She remembered her son looking slightly unsettled, apparently at the brutal destruction of the monster but now realised it had more to do with the disparaging comments that were being made by the reporters. If he had been a Ranger then…she shook her mead mentally and pushed those thoughts away. She would hear the story from her son before she asked those questions.
"The Ogre battle…right? We saw it on the news that night and I remember how uncomfortable you looked at the news report."
Her son nodded and she wondered why she hadn't the foresight to confront him about it during the past two years. Mentally shaking her head once more, she told herself it wouldn't make any differences. The least she could do was to hear the story from beginning to end, even though she knew he had to be elsewhere.
"Yeah…that was when I was still trying to work everything out in my mind. That night, I discovered another one of my abilities and I experimented with it on my night walk."
"The scorched trees in the park…"
"Yes, that was me. Well, me trying to control what I could do. Not every day you're granted the opportunity to create fire from your hands with the flick of the wrist."
Allowing a small smile to flicker over her face, she leant back in the leather and sighed. Her mind was beginning to hurt from all the information she was receiving, but she knew he was explaining it in a very condensed version. She didn't know if she had the fortitude to sit through extremely detailed explanations of the past battles.
"And the duplicates?"
"I discovered I could create them on the night Xonix revealed himself. I think you picked up on the mood change. Those are the feelings I picked up from when I reabsorbed my double anyway"
She nodded and saw him nod back. She had picked up on the slight mood and body language shift, but hadn't thought much of it before. She was practically kicking herself over it now…but there was nothing that could be done. Allowing the breath in her lungs to expel in one long whoosh, she placed a hand over her eyes and rubbed her temples.
"All this time…the attacks in the school, the death of your friend and in Pitt Street Mall when the Rangers were taken…I can't believe I didn't pick it up sooner. I thought you seemed slightly happier at school but then, on that one day, you came home with such a dark and sad look on your face and refused to answer any questions."
He knew she would bring that up. It was such a defining point in his life and Ranger career; she would have been stupid not to bring it up. Yet, he knew that she couldn't learn the truth about that as it would send her into sleepless nights. The Evil Future and his death would be the things that he would fight tooth and nail to keep from reaching her. Well…that and the time spent under Love Tick's spell. Mother or not, there was not real delicate way you could tell someone about being involved in a long orgy with colourful ponies, not without sounding like a total nutcase anyway. He shook his head firmly.
"I'm still not ready to talk about that incident just yet. It cemented the notion in my mind that I needed a team of Rangers or else…or else I wasn't going to get anywhere. Before you ask, I won't tell you the identities of the others. It's not safe for you to know."
Somehow, she expected that from him. There were so many secrets that her son wasn't telling her and, although she knew it was mostly for the best, she was worried about him taking so many things on himself. It wasn't healthy but…well, life always found a way.
"Your group of friends…but you didn't always hang out with them at the start."
Weihan nodded, finally seeing the lights start to flicker on in her eyes. Too much information would be overwhelming and too little would leave her wanting more. He hoped he could count on her to not go off on wild goose chases on her own as it would raise many questions as to why the Orange Ranger was saving a seemingly random Asian woman. Nodding at the mental message he received from Rachelle about the 'guided tour' of the Ultra Cavern coming to an end, he sent a message back to show them clips of the past battles and show them how the Simul-Deck worked.
"And the Rangers in the past were you and your Black Ranger? But you would have been around seven and you wouldn't have gotten your powers yet…"
"That's a longer story. Plus, the strange pony Rangers you may have heard rumours about? They are real but that's a story for another time. All right…where are we? Past the duplicates, past Apollonia, past…that…"
He actually had to think about the progression of his early battles. Everything pretty much mashed together in a Ranger-coloured battle scene with many monsters lumped together…or maybe he was thinking of the 'Final' Battle with Xonix or Zedd. His musing was cut short by the voice of his mother.
"The attack on the swimming carnival? What was that all about?"
"That was the first attack of the Ultra Psycho Rangers. Psychogre, Lustor, Arachno, Creeper and others…the most challenging battles we have ever faced. As a united front, they were unbeatable but when they attacked one-on-one, they were defeated. They cemented in us that we had to battle as a united group and not a handful of individuals. It's actually a good thing there are twelve of us, as we can split into two groups of six to handle things. I don't know if that'll change now though…we're all so spread out."
"And the bright flash of light a few months after?"
He paused and swallowed the lump that was forming in his throat. Although he had 'spoken' to him in the battle, the subject of Zordon was always going to be a tricky one to broach. His voice dropped and he stumbled over the first words, but he forced himself to continue.
"That…that was the death of the mentor of the Power Rangers. He was there to help me in the early days and he spoke to me about my facial twitching. Apparently, it's due to no one being exposed to so much Grid Energy at once. As my Crystal is stronger than the others, it provides a more direct link to the Universal Morphin Grid."
He wondered what the ancient sage would think about him revealing his identity to his mother and what he would say if he was still on the physical plane. As the Ultra Rangers were not constrained by any rules, he would think the ancient Master would understand…and yet, he desperately wanted to know how he would have reacted. Biting back a frustrated sigh, he resigned himself to never being able to close the door on that one issue. It wasn't as if he would magically gain the ability to go back in time outside of the Chronos Zord and, even then, it would be tricky to not change anything. Seemingly oblivious to the internal storm he was feeling, his mother continued in a slowly stabling voice.
"And when you went to Terra Venture and the Ultra Rangers were there…that was you, wasn't it? And the battle afterwards…something bad happened in that one. Xonix came down; at least I think it was him. And he was with the other reptilian monster and the picture went fuzzy for a few minutes and the Rangers were all acting like something terrible had happened."
"You don't need to know about that. It's in the past now and we won the battle anyway."
Yin nodded slowly. It was extremely obvious that there were some things that weren't meant to be touched, even for her. She briefly wondered what it could be and if a death was involved, yet it couldn't be. Her son was alive and well in front of her, his friends were all alright and she hadn't heard of news of any people keeling over and dying on the news. She had recalled that for days after the battle, her son had been uncharacteristically happy at everything he had done, but offered no explanation as to the root cause of the sudden mood shift. She thought it was just happiness after a Ranger victory but, now, she wondered if there was something else behind it.
"And then nothing happened for months after that and I thought everything was back to normal…and then the massive attack on the city happened. You were there in the thick of it, weren't you?"
At his nod, her heart clenched a fraction and she braced herself for stories of the battle, even though she knew she was being silly.
"Yeah, I was. It was hairy at the end but we managed to pull through somehow. It was a good thing AJ left when she did. If she had been a minute or two later…"
Knowing that the last big battle wasn't something that he would care to relive, she moved on to her closing questions. Her son had new priorities now, things that didn't involve her or the family and, more than likely, never would. He had distanced himself from the family politics and abstract musings to take on a task that would literally change the world.
"Whose idea was it for the two of you to split up?"
"Hers and she also wanted to distance herself from the craziness here. Being in a relationship with a Ranger isn't always easy but there are two Rangers in relationships with non-Rangers so I guess there's a happy medium somewhere in the middle."
Weihan knew she was losing steam. The questions were coming at a slower pace and she looked more and more understanding. She was still slightly freaked out at everything, which was normal…but she was dealing with it a lot better than he would have given her credit for. Silently thanking whatever force had made him teleport into the foyer instead of his room, he crossed the talk off his mental checklist and exhaled slowly. The granting of the Power to Phoebe would probably take no more than an hour at most and after that…well, he would more than likely crash in the nearest bed and not wake for a while. Her mother cleared her throat lightly and he looked at her.
"And now what? The attacks are starting up again…and who are the four?"
"Something you don't need to worry about."
He stood up, hearing his knee pop, and stretched his arms up above his head. The past day had crawled by extremely slowly, apart from the battles, and he was ready to do whatever it took for him to get at least a decent amount of sleep. The first class of the next day was food service and he silently groaned to himself. At least, judging from what his double had heard, the lecturer was very easy on the eyes and always picked out one student in the class to be her 'right hand', constantly flirting and everything. Waiting a few more seconds, he looked around, unsure as to how to end the conversation. He just hoped the neighbours didn't hear the shouts at the start. His mother opened her mouth once more and began speaking, her words coming out slowly and haltingly.
"Son, I…I've never said this before; but I'm proud of you. Taking on such a big task on your own and moulding it to fit you is something you were always good at. I won't pretend I know half of what is going on, but if you're out there…I'm still trying to wrap my mind around it. I'll support you whatever way I can."
He felt his heart swell with pleasure at those words, things that he had never thought would be heard directed at him. Swallowing the lump that had formed over the one that had formed from talking about Zordon…and wondering why his mind thought like Pinkie, he smiled back.
"Thanks Mum. I'll always be your son, but a duplicate will be here to keep you company when I have to be away. It's just to keep up appearances. There are some things I have to take care of now but I'll be home as soon as I can."
"I know son. Just do your best."
He turned around and lifted his left wrist, preparing to teleport to the Ultra Cavern. Despite the drama in the beginning, his mother had actually handled it better than most parents would have and he started wondering if it would be right for the others to reveal their identities to their parents as well. He shook his head, pushing those thoughts away with a heavy heart as not all parents, or adults, would see much need for the secret to be kept. They would only see the means for a quick buck and forever alienate their kids from them. Stopping himself mid-press, he glanced over his shoulder to look at his mother.
She was still there, still on the couch with a proud and slightly dazed look in her eyes. She would be all right, but there was one thing that needed to be asked. He doubted very much that she would spill his identity to anyone but he guessed, if she had a minor slip-up, he could perfect the memory spells and clean up those messes.
"Mum, I don't think I need to ask this but…"
Her answer brought a calm and peace to his mind that hadn't been present before. As he initiated the teleport, her words echoed in his ears.
"Your secret is safe with me."
TBC…