Episode 9: Midday Blackouts
Chapter 25: Moving Out
"Can I kill Harton please?" Wyatt whispered to Stanton as the two silently watched the Blue, Yellow and Gold Rangers as they sat around quietly in the REC room, unaware of what to say or what to do.
"Trust me, we all want to." Stanton sighed. "The commander's suicide has them really shaken up, right?"
"Shaken..." Wyatt shook his head. "They're traumatized. Look at them!"
Stanton sighed before rubbing his temples. "This is such a mess; Harton bringing justice to our messed up world..."
"Justice?" Wyatt questioned incredulously. "On what planet is this justice... theirs? They are killing innocent people! And don't tell me that they committed suicide themselves. She must've done something to brainwash them. And to think I had sympathy for her."
"Sympathy?" The Commander echoed.
"For the... slightest moment... I actually didn't... blame them for wanting revenge." Wyatt worded his sentence carefully. "But what they are doing right now... we can't forgive them for it. Involving innocent civilians into their onslaught isn't right."
"So what do you say?" Joseph asked.
"I say we upgrade our arsenal." Wyatt said. "Show them that we will not take them lying down."
"Hey... look who is here..." The two males turned around to see Alarik from the entry of the hallway with a teary eyed ten year old hiding behind his legs.
"Beth..." Joseph called out softly to the small girl.
"Uncle Joey." Bethany sniffled before running towards him. Joseph picked her up and felt her tighten her arms around him before sobbing into his shoulder. "M... m... mommy did something bad... and da... daddy..." She panted out between sobs.
"I know sweetie, I know." Joseph soothed her. "Everything will be okay, okay?" The little girl only sobbed into his shoulder. As Wyatt stared at the sight, he began to see just how much damage Harton could cause. As people died, people got hurt, the more people she exposed, the more families she destroyed and the more things she manipulated, the more innocent people lives' become more uncertain. And here was a little girl whose whole world has changed; her father is in hospital, her mom is a criminal and she was all alone.
She had gone too far... and she needed to be stopped.
"I found something else that connects our four leakers together." Dante shoveled eggs into his mouth. "Well–"
"Don't talk with your mouth full..." Thalia cringed in disgust. "The green thyme against yellow mush is giving me nightmares." Dante grinned apologetically, disgusting Thalia further before finishing up and swallowing. "Now speak..."
"Well, as I was saying, all four of them were affected negatively by the government in one way or another." Dante said. "Jackie Barchan's father was the old minister of defense. He was assassinated while he was in cabinet and it ties with one of the old members of senate who was just arrested. Michael Siemens' parents were wrongly involved in political propaganda and charged for treason which subjected them to capital punishment and Heith Turner's only mother was framed for another government official's crimes and arrested."
"Ouch..." Thalia winced. "What about the other one?"
"Trinity Stokes is a mixed race; half American-half South African and her parents came here together after illegally marrying in South Africa. The government had her mother, who was a black South African, deported back to pay for her crimes since Trinity was born during apartheid." Dante said. "She died while in custody of white police officers. Each and everyone of them had something against the govermment so Harton could have used that against them."
"Dirty folks." Thalia huffed in annoyance. "Did you hear that Morgan?" Silence. "Morgan..." The Gold Ranger looked up from his tray of food, completely withdrawn from the topic the other Rangers – except Finley and Wyatt who were not there – were talking about. It had been a week since Harton caused chaos in D.C. which made the Rangers more anxious than relieved. Things were too quiet... which meant that Harton was plotting.
So far, despite not even knowing who Harton is or meeting her – with the exception of Wyatt – they had learned that Harton was an enigma; she was incredibly intelligent and down right dangerous... not to mention that she was unpredicatable. But that is not what plagued Morgan's mind. Instead, it was Commander Barchan who haunted him.
He remembered the lifeless look in his eyes, the weary expression on his face; all of it was etched into his brain. It reminded him heavily of Nadine; the look in her eyes as she held him before she stabbed him. "Morgan!" The Gold Ranger looked up again to see Thalia calling out to him. "Are you okay?"
"Mmm..." He hummed.
"I want your hamburger." She added.
"Hmm..." He hummed.
"And to give you a strip tease later in your room as thanks." She said.
"Hmm..." He repeated absentmindedly.
"Damn! Nothing is working!" Thalia huffed in frustration.
"Morgan!" Dante called out and Morgan looked up. "What's wrong buddy?"
"Nothing..." Morgan shook his head before looking back at his plate.
"You're... quiet." Dante added carefully.
"I'm fine." Morgan reassured with a grin. "Besides, worry about yourselves, morons." Thalia and Dante exchanged a look of concern before nodding and eating on in silence. Wyatt then approached their table, holding two trays with Bethany in tow, in the canteen and both sat down. The Rangers had chipped in in keeping Bethany busy while her father was in hospital. The little girl looked up to all of them as the older siblings she never had.
"A... are you guys doing okay?" Wyatt asked.
"Good," Dante pouted. "Where have you been? We barely saw you all week."
"Fi... fixing mine and Finley's equipment a... and boosting our arsenal..." Wyatt said. "I'd hate for us to face Korcitrons unprepared."
"That must've been a tough one." Thalia sighed. "Fin is still in the infirmiry."
"But at least she is awake." Dante smiled. "I was going to draw her a pretty picture."
"When are pictures from you ever pretty?" Thalia mocked. "You should be banned from using crayons and construction paper."
"I think his drawings are good." Bethany said.
"High five, Beth!" Dante cheered as he slapped the little girl's hand with as much enthusiasm as her. "Yay!" They both cheered.
"Finally, Dante has a suitable playmate." Thalia said.
Wyatt thought about it and spoke: "Well... they are both ten years old. Speaking of which... Bethany, school starts in thirty minutes so finish eating."
"I don't wanna go..." She pouted.
"Well... you should." Wyatt said. "Your teachers and friends are going to be worried."
"No they won't!" She huffed.
"Yes, they will." Wyatt said. "You don't want to worry them, do you?" Bethany shook her head. "There we go. I'll go drop you off, your uncles are busy today." She nodded and turned back to her food. Wyatt looked up and noticed Morgan who sat quietly, staring at his food. "I... know Finley's food tastes way better but you have to eat."
"Hmm..." He hummed.
Wyatt looked puzzled then turned to Thalia and Dante who shrugged, just as lost as he was. Wyatt sighed before they continued eating in silence with Bethany occassionally bantering about anything that came off of the top of her head – with Dante being the only one to understand and reply just as enthusiastically.
"I'm worried..." Thalia voiced out to Wyatt quietly who looked up at her.
"Mo... Morgan?" The Yellow Ranger nodded.
"Ever since the police commander jumped off that building, he has been like this." Thalia said. "I... don't even know why it is affecting him this way."
"Di... did you suggest that he goes to see Dr. Rhode?" Wyatt asked.
"He insists that he is fine." Thalia sighed. "I don't want to force him. You can't force him to do something he doesn't want to do."
Wyatt was slightly saddened by this but he agreed nonetheless. "Yo... you're right. W... we can't force him to talk." The Red Covert Operative looked at his watch and sighed. "I sh... should go drop Bethany off. You're in charge of morning training until I get back."
"Seriously?" Thalia grinned.
"Yeah, I mean... Finley's out of it and so is Morga–"
"Wait... Finley?" Thalia questioned, unaware of the slight edge of annoyance in her own voice.
"Wh... what about her?" Wyatt looked confused.
"Finley would've been your first choice?" Thalia clarified.
"We... well... sh... she is my... sec... ond in command..." Wyatt said slowly, piecing his words together the best he could do like an old supercomputer processing a large amount of data.
"Since when?" Thalia demanded.
"Well... sh... she tends to take charge whenever I... can't..." Wyatt shrugged. "I thought it was obvious."
"Well, it's not." Thalia claimed. "All you ever seem to go on about these days is Finley and her safety, her strengths or whatever it is that just seems to click."
"Wh... why are you so angry?" Wyatt was taken aback by her bark.
"I'm not angry!" Thalia hissed loudly, bringing the whole table to her attention – even silent Morgan – and she shrunk back a bit in embarrassment until a dull ache came to her head and she rubbed her temples.
"Thalia... a... are you okay?" Wyatt asked and Thalia gingerly nodded.
"Yeah... I'm sorry..." She cautiously nodded before standing up, feeling a little wobbly. "I'm just... a little irritable today, is all. We should... go for training guys." She said to Dante and Morgan before walking out of the canteen in a hurry.
What just happened? Thalia questioned herself as she made her way back to their end of the G.I. station. Never had she reacted this way before. She always seemed to get irritated when Wyatt would talk about Finley and get even more so when he would go off on his spare time when he wasn't fiddling with machinery to check on her. It was not as if Wyatt was doing anything different than what he normally does... it just annoyed her a bit.
But she didn't hate Finley either. In fact, she liked Finley a lot. The more the two of them talked, the more she got to understand Finley's mannerisms. She was a cute, shy and clueless individual who Thalia had enjoyed bringing out of her shell. But the more she had these thoughts, she questioned what it was that made her feel this way. And she also ended up questioning who she is...
"The Empress has been awfully quiet these days, Dunvall." Rontico whispered to his co-henchman as he hung out in Dunvall's workshop – or rather, annoyed the latter when he was trying to get in some quiet time alone.
"Then go bother her and leave me alone." Dunvall muttered, leaned back in his work chair with his eyes closed.
"That's a little odd..." Rontico mused playfully.
"What is?" Dunvall dared to ask despite the fact that he was entirely uninterested in whatever he had to say.
"That you haven't been at her beck and call the entire week." Rontico teased and Dunvall turned sour. "What... trouble in paradise?"
"You have quite the mouth, Rontico." Dunvall sighed in annoyance.
"But of course. Should chamber conflicts be brought outside then it is my duty to question them." Rontico huffed.
Dunvall opened one eye at him before closing it and snuggling further into the chair. "Even if such affairs existed, I doubt that it would be your duty to question them. Who would want a slither, conniving snake like you in their affairs."
"My friend!" Rontico gasped. "You wound me so! You make me sound worse than Aklestal."
"The snake would be much higher but it can't talk... my sole grievance in your existence." Dunvall said.
"And to think I once marveled the ground you walk on..." Rontico faked a sniffle. "I admit, I was jealous of your intimate relationship with the Empress." It was at that when Dunvall opened both eyes and raised a brow quizically at the man. "And to think... I wanted you all to myself!" Rontico faked a cry.
"Are you drunk?" Dunvall questioned.
"Drunk on loneliness!" Rontico said with an exaggerated sob.
"Good grief..." Dunvall sighed in annoyance before closing his eyes and snugglig back into the seat.
"What is he wallowing about?" He heard the Empress ask as she appeared in the room.
"You stole my man!" He accused.
"Oh, good heavens!" Dunvall groaned in annoyance.
"Look, I am in no mood for games." The Empress said. "I left instructions on what to do next. Your partner is Helfigler. Now leave. I'd like to have a word with Dunvall."
"Fine... but this is far from over!" Rontico warned her before rushing out of the room.
"I... do not even want to know..." Harton scoffed before looking at Dunvall. "You have been avoiding me, haven't you?"
"Hardly, my queen." Dunvall said.
"I have barely seen you this week." Harton added.
"I had a lot of duties to attend to, my queen." He said in a bored monotone voice.
"Will you wake up?" Harton ordered with a huff.
Dunvall sighed before opening his eyes and staring at the Empress who was surprisingly out of her usual trench coat and armor and wearing a black regal gown– something he had not seen her bother with since Amystheist was destroyed. And to add onto that, Aklestal was nowhere to be seen. "What's the occassion?"
Harton frowned. "Why do I even bother?"
"Bother with what?" He asked.
"How could you forget your own birthday?" Harton rolled her eyes in annoyance.
"Is that today?" Dunvall huffed. "How can I not forget, when you are as old as I am you tend to forget."
"You're not that old..." Harton defended and Dunvall raised an eyebrow at her. "You... just... don't age..." Dunvall scoffed. "Dunvall, you're being stubborn."
"Says the most stubborn being in this galaxy." Dunvall pointed out.
Harton frowned at him. "Dunvall, we celebrate your birthday every year. What makes this year any different?"
"We don't have a home." Dunvall said.
"Formalities." Harton huffed before approaching him. "You need a haircut." She noted, pointing out the hair that had grown around the ponytail on his head, layering his once bald head.
"No time." He said.
"Have you forgotten who your ruler is?" Harton asked with a teasing smile.
"I thought it was your rule that we forgo titles and standings on this glorious day." Dunvall sarcastically pointed out.
Harton chuckled, shaking her head. "Where are the scissors?"
"You are not coming anywhere near me with them." Dunvall said.
"I can cut hair." Harton said. "I am no longer that castle maiden like when I was younger. Let me prove it to you." Dunvall was extremely hesitant but relented nonetheless before pulling a pair of scissors out of the drawer in the work desk and giving it to her. "Thank you."
"If anything happens to my head..."
"I'd like to see what you'd do." Harton cut him off with a giggle as she stepped behind him. "Remember there are limitations to how we forgo hierachy." Dunvall clicked his tongue in annoyance and Harton laughed before proceeding to pull the longer strands making up his ponytail out of a bind and began leveling his hair. After a long while, she spoke. "Do you hate me, Dunvall?"
Dunvall froze a bit, not expecting that at all from her. "Of course not, my queen."
"I waited until today to ask, hoping you would not be formal and tell me how you feel straight to my face." Harton sighed as she began to cut snippets of his hair cautiously. "I know the measures I have taken recently seem far too extreme at times but... I was hoping you'd understand where I am coming from."
"Do you not think you are taking it too far?" Dunvall asked.
"Did the earthlings ask themselves that before destroying our lives?" Harton asked.
"We are not like the earthlings." Dunvall pointed out. "And we should never be like them regardless."
Harton paused her cutting. "I do not wish for you to hate me." She said before going on with her duty. "You are more righteous and forgiving than I am but being the Empress – the first out of a long serving line of Emperors – I am bound to rule with an iron fist to prove my capabilities. The last person I would ever want to butt heads with is youm You're all I have left."
"You have the surviving Amysthean race." Dunvall said.
"That is not enough." Harton refused. "I am their ruler... but I perceive only you to be my equal."
"... I understand that we are allowed to speak and act with each other anyhow we please on this day but I hope you remember that there are a number of limitations we are bound to stick to." Dunvall said.
"Under whose obligations?" Harton asked.
"Decency and status." Dunvall noted.
"Bullocks to decency and status." Harton voiced her disdain.
"Empress, remember where we both stand."
"I'm done." Harton announced, ignoring him entirely and putting the pair of scissors down.
"Are you even listening to me?" Dunvall asked.
"I am..." She said. "I just fail to understand." She then sighed before nodding. "Come, I have an entire day planned and you are not allowed to say no."
"Do I have an option of bowing out in favor of sleep?" Dunvall asked.
"Not while I'm alive." Harton said. Dunvall was irritated by her resilience but decided to humor her and go along with it.
To say Morgan's behaviour was now frightening was an understatement. As Thalia watched Morgan and Dante spar, she had an unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach. Morgan was being far more aggressive in his attacks; normally that was not necessarily a bad thing since he was bigger and stronger than anyone else on the team but he knew how to hold back.
Today, he showed no such tact.
Dante fell with a large thump to the floor but bounded back to his feet with a roll but was immediately caught by a hard kick to the chest then one across the face. "Alright, time out sterk hálfviti." (Macho idiot) Thalia proclaimed as he stood between a hurt, stunned Dante and an emotionless Morgan but Morgan simply took her by the arm and tossed her to the side.
Thalia hit the adjacent wall with a grunt before falling to the ground. "Thalia!" Dante called out in concern as he stood up. "Morgan... why did you do that?"
Morgan said nothing, looking like an expressionless zombie. He simply stepped forward, throwing rapid-fire attacks at Dante and the Blue Ranger tried his best to avoid them but Morgan punched him in the chest before taking him by the shirt and slamming him to the ground.
"Morgan... stop it..." A new voice in the room announced, grabbing Morgan by the arm as he tried to deliver another blow to Dante. Morgan pulled his hand away and turned around to stare at the new challenger. Alarik looked disappointed, staring at the Gold Ranger.
"Fight someone who can fight back." Alarik calmly said. "There's no honour or satisfaction in hurting others: regardless of whether you are yourself or someone else."
This seemed to strike a nerve with Morgan who charged to attack but he was taken down so quickly that he was dazed. He stood up and charged again to attack but he was quickly taken down once again but this time, he lost consciousness after hitting the mat; not because the hit was hard as such but because his body basically shut down on him. Alarik huffed before lifting him to his feet. "Dante... come help me get him to Rhode."
The others barely moved as they stared at Alarik in awe. They never really saw him fight or anything other than sitting in a rotating chair yet he moved so quickly that none of them had noticed. They thought Drewmore was good... Alarik seemed lethal. "Dante... could you help?" Alarik struggled a bit to hold him up amd this was seen with his right leg as it started to tremble.
Dante snapped out of it and nodded before helping support Morgan and dragging him out of the training area. "Now I know why he was Red..." Thalia commented before following them out.
Morgan's eyes fluttered open and after looking around, he immediately shot up, hyperventilating as a headache ruptured his head, pushing him further into a state of panic. "Morgan... calm down..." Rhode coaxed him, holding him to help him steady himself.
"Wh... where... a...m I?" Morgan gasped out.
"In the infirmiry." Rhode said.
"Wh... at... ha...ppened... what... hap..." He forced himself to say but Rhode told him to calm down before talking.
"Morgan... have you been sleeping well lately?" Rhode asked.
"Doc... I am not in the moo–"
"Morgan... have you been sleeping as lately; yes or no." She emphasized. Morgan looked at her hesitantly before sighing and shaking her head. "The last time you had been having insomnia, what happened?"
"I... my sister committed suicide in front of my eyes." He summarized, keeping the details about him out.
"But weren't you hospitalized around that time?" She asked after looking through some papers. "What was all that about?"
"You... you can't just look at my health records!" Morgan accused, feeling a bit exposed.
"I am certified health professional and your mental health is my responsibility." Rhode calmly said. "So any physical health issues are to be considered as well. So will you tell me?"
Morgan looked defeated. "Nadine, my sister... she... stabbed me first, hoping I would die first. She... didn't think any of us could make a future for ourselves."
"And you survived because you have situs invertus." Rhode noted. "So when you started having insomnia, you started having manic episodes." He nodded. "Are you afraid of going to sleep?"
"I'm most vulnerable when I'm asleep." Morgan said.
"You're even more vulnerable when you are tired and wide awake." Rhode pointed out. "Because your brain is focused on staying awake, your conscious connection to the rest of it shuts down."
"Did... something happen?" Morgan asked.
"You... attacked Thalia and Dante violently during sparring." Morgan's eyes widened in bewilderment. "Don't worry, Alarik intervened before anything... serious occured."
"Fuck!" Morgan hissed, jumping off the bed in frustration and pacing around the room.
"Morgan..." Rhode said. "Everyone doesn't question your actions. The police commander's suicide must have evoked certain feelings in you like the day your sister died."
"Feelings like what?" Morgan asked her angrily. "In case you haven't noticed, I became a killer because of this stupid DID."
"How do you feel?" Dr. Rhode asked.
"I... don't know..." Morgan said. "I feel... frightened."
"Would you be willing to tackle the problem from the source?" Dr. Rhode asked.
"Anything that will help me... I am willing to do it." Morgan nodded.
"The reason why Alarik went to your sparring session wasn't because he happened to be there by chance." Dr. Rhode said. "Stanton received an email earlier this week and since Drewmore is still in hospital, we were discussing whether to let you know about it or not."
"What email?" Morgan asked.
"After your identities were leaked, turns out that a newlywed couple had been looking for you; Harold Turk and Terra Milano." Dr. Rhode said.
"Never heard of them..." Morgan said.
"It turns out that after your arrest, your parents' house has been on the market ever since. Since your child houme had no specification on who would inherit it because your parents did not leave behind a will, it was brought under the ownership of the state. Due to the massacre of your family, people were scared to purchase it until recently." Dr. Rhode explained. "However, they had no idea what to do with the things your family left inside – something about disrespecting their spirit. So they looked for ways to contact you until they saw you on the news so they want you to decide what happens to the things inside."
Morgan blinked at Dr. Rhode, staring as if she had just grown a second head. "Huh?"