Chapter 25 –Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace
Gamma Vile – Zedd's Palace
Zedd fired a blast from his staff at the two rangers in front of him, the yellow and blue rangers. Ashley and TJ leapt out the way of the blast before rolling gracefully across the floor. From his crouched position, TJ charged towards Zedd with his Astro Axe at the ready. He clipped the legs of the Emperor of Evil but the blade hit the metal plates rather than his exposed skin. Zedd was stunned rather than injured by the attack and he was quickly able to kick TJ away.
Carlos' Lunar Lance clashed with Zedd's staff, sending red sparks in the air from the collision. Zedd clipped the black ranger in the shoulder with his weapon and Carlos recoiled slightly. Regaining his footing quickly, he ducked under a wild swing from his opponent. He was now past the defences of Zedd and Carlos capitalised by slicing the end of his lance down the lower abdomen of the Emperor of Evil. Zedd immediately grabbed his side and when he pulled his hand away, it was stained with his own blood. Enraged he blasted a red energy bolt at the black ranger. Carlos deflected some of the blast but enough of the energy struck him in the shoulder. He flew across the ground and crashed into one the steel pillars.
Ashley was back on her feet and teamed up with Andros and Cassie to tackle Zedd. The yellow ranger provided some covering fire with her Star Slinger, enabling the other two to get closer. Cassie had ditched her weapon and was now duelling directly with Zedd. A strong roundhouse kick from the pink ranger dislodged Zedd's faceplate, not enough to knock it off but the rangers were able to see the skinless visage underneath.
Zedd pushed the red ranger away with the bottom of his staff before turning his attention to the pink ranger. He blocked another attempted kick from Cassie before jamming the point of his staff into her ribs. Cassie doubled over in pain, giving Zedd the opportunity to take her legs out from underneath her. Almost dismissively, he kicked her in the ribs which sent her sprawling across the metal floor.
The yellow ranger tried to prevent Zedd from inflicting further damage on her team mate by firing her Star Slinger at point blank range. The blast knocked a few more tubes free from Zedd's body and by now he was standing in a puddle of red liquid. Getting desperate, Zedd put all of his energy into swinging his staff. Fortunately for him the swing caught Ashley on the helmet and she crumpled to the ground at his feet.
"Ash!" Andros cried and charged in with his Spiral Saber. His weapon clashed with Zedd's staff with a clang that echoed throughout the cavernous room. The point of the Spiral Saber disconnected another tube in Zedd's left arm, the arm that had been previously injured by a past team of rangers. Zedd lost use of the arm, forcing him to wield his staff with just one arm. He changed his stance to something similar to a fencer and thrust his staff towards the red ranger. Andros was able to parry the blow away but the change of stance temporarily threw him from his game plan.
Sensing that his life giving serum was nearly exhausted, Zedd made one final play to finish these rangers once and for all. Pouring all of his magic into his staff, he fired a bolt of energy at the red ranger. The blast evaded Andros' defence and he was catapulted into the air, crashing to the ground and landing heavily on his arm in the process. "Pathetic rangers", Zedd choked out, "even now you are no match for me". The Emperor of Evil let out a terrible sounding cough and he doubled over in pain. A thin red mist was ejected through his face plate with each cough, joining the puddle of liquid that had leaked from his tubes.
Seeing that Andros was slow to get up, Carlos took the lead and rallied the other rangers around him. They assembled the Quadra Blaster and fired a strong burst of energy at Lord Zedd. The force of the blast catapulted him through a nearby concrete wall and out into the ground of the palace. With a temporary rest bite, the others gathered around their fallen leader, "I'm alright guys", Andros began, "I think I popped my shoulder out of place". Helped by TJ he manoeuvred the joint until it popped back into place with a sickening crack. "That'll do for now but we need to finish Zedd before he can regroup".
In the palace grounds, Zedd felt like his entire body was on fire. The incident several millennia ago that had left him so badly disfigured really should have killed him. It was only his magical prowess and a constant supply of a healing serum that kept him alive. With several of the distributing tubes destroyed, his body was literally falling apart, "There's only one hope for me now", he gasped, "I need an infusion of magic and quickly". Looking at the wall that separated his territory and Rita's, he made his decision. Using the last of his power, he propelled himself over the wall and towards Rita's Palace.
"Quickly he's heading towards Karone", Andros stated before calling out, "Galaxy Gliders, Hang Ten". Five gliders appeared out of nowhere and the rangers jumped on. They flew over the wall in a desperate attempt to catch Zedd.
Over in Rita's Palace the battle between Karone and Rita had been intense. The silver ranger's assessment of Rita's fighting skill had been totally wrong. She was as skilled in hand to hand combat as she was with magic. Karone had spent much of the battle ducking energy bolts from Rita, which had destroyed much of the interior of the room in the process. Without any cover to hide behind, Karone was forced to face Rita directly. She had inflicted some damage on the Empress of Evil, slicing a huge gash in her leg that exposed the muscle underneath. If Rita survived this battle, she would also have an impressive scar on her face. The wound had bled down her neck and stained the front of her dress bright crimson.
Karone wasn't doing much better, several of Rita's magical blasts had bruised the skin underneath her suit and she was sure that another blast had broken a few bones in her foot. Crucially in terms of the outcome of his battle, she was tiring significantly. Rita on the other hand was fuelled by her magic, she could keep going for several more hours without losing a step. "What's the matter sweetie, need to catch your breath", Rita taunted during a pause in the battle.
"You wish Rita", Karone wheezed. In truth though if Karone didn't end this battle soon, she was done for. Forcing herself back to her feet, she charged up the blade on her Super Silverizer. Gracefully dodging another couple of deadly energy bolts, she sliced the blade through Rita's sceptre. It broke in half and the magical backlash threw both Karone and Rita across the room. The silver ranger's fall was broken by Rita's throne but the Empress herself wasn't so lucky. She slammed into a stone wall with a sickening crack and fell to the ground in a broken heap.
Karone was barely conscious when Lord Zedd broke into the room. He surveyed the damage and found Rita lying next to the wall, "Hmm perhaps these rangers are good for something after all", he mused before draining Rita of her magic. He could feel the dark energy healing his injuries, infusing him with more power than he had felt in a long time. This wouldn't be a permanent fix but it would be enough to maintain his strength until he could replenish his serum. "Karone", he heard the red ranger cry as he burst into the room. He knelt down to check on his sister, she was still morphed which was a good sign.
"Five more minutes Andros", she mumbled.
"Now isn't this sweet", Zedd chuckled, "it would make me sick to my stomach, if I had one that is".
"Great he's back to full fitness", TJ grumbled.
"Indeed I am blue ranger", Zedd roared as his body crackled with energy, "wait, no I don't want this to happen". Suddenly Zedd began to grown in size, breaking through the stone walls of the palace. The rangers scrambled to safety to avoid the falling masonry as Zedd towered over them and both palaces.
"I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing", Cassie pondered as they walked outside.
"It probably means that Zedd's magic is unstable, we've still got a chance to finish this", Andros found a safe spot for his sister and placed her on the ground, "Alright Mega Voyager online".
The Mega Voyager appeared through a portal and the rangers jumped on board. Almost immediately Zedd fired an energy bolt from his staff that the rangers had to repel with their shield. The feet of the Mega Voyager dug into the ground as it took the force of the blow. The rangers summoned Mega V3 to deflect the blows from Zedd's staff, however, they found their weapon difficult to wield.
Another energy bolt was fired at the Mega Voyager, this time it wasn't intercepted by the shield and the mecha was thrown into the boundary wall. "I don't think we can take too many more hits like that", TJ called out as smoke poured off his console.
"Someone call for the cavalry", a voice called out over the radio. Looking up into the sky, they could see a silver jet streaking towards Lord Zedd. It unleashed a volley of laser fire that tore into the body of the Emperor of Evil.
"Karone you should be resting", Andros scolded.
"And miss a chance to use my new zord, no thank you", she called back. In a flash the Mega Winger converted into warrior mode. Its body was mostly silver but with a few black patches on the upper legs and body. There were golden accents around the feet, arms and head. The chest patch was designed in the shape of the letter V and was coloured red and gold. The wings of the jet were now attached to its back.
"Two on one, this is hardly fair", Zedd growled and fired an energy bolt at the Mega Winger. It nimbly avoided the blast, which slammed into the wall behind. With a couple of quick punches, the Mega Winger pushed Zedd back. This gave the Mega Voyager a chance to move away from the wall. The Voyager kicked Zedd's staff up to the air, "My staff", he cried.
Karone quickly called on the Winger's bladed cannon and shot the staff in midair, turning it into a piled of scrap metal, "Now's your chance guys", the silver ranger called.
"Mega Missile", Andros called and fired the Mega V3 towards the Emperor of Evil. The blast threw Zedd into the air and he crashed to the ground with a massive thud. The rangers could see that he wasn't defeated as he began to slowly get back to his feet. His chrome face plate had been smashed and his face underneath exposed. Like the rest of his body it was totally skinless and the rangers could see his skull around his forehead. The most striking feature was Zedd's pulsing red eyes that were hanging loose out of his skull.
"And I thought killing Divatox was our grossest moment", Ashley retched.
"Zhane told me that the Mega Winger could link up with the Voyager", Karone called over the radio, "shall we give that a try?"
"Alright let's do it", Andros replied. The wings of the Mega Winger separated and attached themselves to the back of the Mega Voyager, giving it the ability to fly. It took to the skies and launched itself at Zedd with tremendous speed. The tips of the wings sliced through the Emperor of Evil but initially nothing happened. Without warning the top half of his body separated from his lower half and fell to the ground in a spray of his crimson coloured serum. The lower half of his body toppled and exploded on contact with the ground, finally bringing an end to Lord Zedd's reign of terror.
With the zords returned to their pocket dimension, the rangers jumped to the ground and demorphed. Carlos held onto Karone to stop the silver ranger from collapsing with exhaustion. Andros meanwhile cradled his injured arm close to his body.
"So what happens to Gamme Vile now?" Cassie asked.
"I'm not sure, it doesn't fall under our jurisdiction", Andros replied, "the people have been ruled by tyrants for so long that I don't think they would know how to form their own government".
"I for one am going to enjoy a nice long bath when we get back to the Megaship", Karone smiled. Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of someone scrambling out of the ruins of Rita's palace. The rangers tensed, hoping not to do battle without anyone else in the near future. Someone emerged into daylight, a female in her late thirties or early forties. She was dressed in a tatty brown dress that was frayed around the edges. She had long black hair and Asian features, "Hello", she asked fearfully, "who are you?"
"We're Power Rangers ma'am", Andros replied, "you need to leave this area, it's not safe".
"Leave", she replied, "this is my home".
The six rangers looked at each other, "What's your name madam?" TJ asked.
The woman looked confused, "I'm not sure, I can't remember much", she thought for a moment, "Rita, my father called me Rita", she replied before passing out. The ranger's jaws dropped, it appeared that Rita Repulsa had managed to survive.
Astro Megaship
Against their better judgement the rangers had taken Rita back to the Megaship with them. They kept her under heavy sedation in the medical bay, watched over at all times by Alpha and bizarrely Karone. Several hours after returning from Gamma Vile, Andros poked his head into the medical bay. His arm was held in place with a sling to ensure it didn't dislocate itself again, "Andros you really should be more careful", Alpha said, "that's the second time you've injured that arm".
"And it probably won't be the last", Andros smiled, "how's our guest?"
"As far as I can tell she's perfectly healthy", the robot replied, "Lord Zedd drained all the dark magic out of her".
"So she's not evil anymore?" Andros asked.
"Hard to tell until she wakes up", Alpha began, "magic is all about intent. Just because Rita's been drained of dark magic doesn't mean that she wasn't an evil person before. You can just as easily kill someone with light magic as well. Having said that I did a scan of her brain and she will have no memory of being the evil witch Rita Repulsa. Whatever Zedd did, it hit the reset button on her brain. She'll think that she's an ordinary middle aged human".
"Alright thanks Alpha", Andros approached his sister, who was keeping watch over Rita's bed.
"I never liked Rita", Karone began, "but she's been given a second chance and she deserved the best chance possible".
"I thought you would say something like that", Andros replied. There were obvious parallels between his twin and Rita, at least Rita wouldn't remember the atrocities that she had caused for several centuries.
"I know there's a special colony in the Theta system where she will get the best care possible", the silver ranger continued. "Permission to take her there, I'm aware that I'll be gone for a couple of weeks".
Andros thought about this for a moment, "Alright, be careful not to scratch the Winger though".
Karone raised an eyebrow, "Really? I was expecting a drawn out argument with you".
"I've only known you for a short time Karone", Andros began, "but in that time I've learned that you'll end up doing things your way regardless of what I say".
The silver ranger smiled, "Learning quickly brother", she stood up from her seat, "I'll go and prepare the Winger, might as well make a start". Andros nodded and let his sister leave the room. He was a little nervous about letting her go but he couldn't cling onto her forever, she would only resent him for it. Looking down at the now human Rita, he realised that another two of Dark Specter's senior warriors were out the way. That just left Darkonda, Ecliptor and the monster himself. Andros could feel the end of this war coming, he just hoped it was soon.
A/N - So the silver ranger will be absent for a couple of chapters and it couldn't come a worst time because some very "unhinged" creatures are about to arrive...