Power Rangers Nexus

Chapter 28: Meanwhile…

Frowning, Angel studied the situation carefully. It had been a long and complicated struggle, and it was nearly over…but which side was to be victorious had yet to be decided. One false move, he though, and all would be lost.

All he needed was one opening….one small gap in his enemy's defenses…and… yes! There it was. Grinning, the Gray Ranger struck, dealing a devastating final blow to his adversary.

"Checkmate," he said.

Stephen frowned and made as though to swipe all the pieces from the gameboard, but, as the pieces were holographic, his arm simply passed through them.

"Man, it's been dull around here lately."

"You call that little exchange up on the bridge dull?" Angel asked. "I sincerely hope never to be around when things get exciting."

"I mean since then," the White Ranger replied. He glanced around the lounge.

Being a Power Ranger came with certain perks, one of which was free run of the Oasis, a high-tech, and quite luxurious, spaceship. Ordinarily, one could find at least three of the Rangers in this room, watching the enormous television, playing the games, having a snack, or just taking a nap on the absurdly comfortable, semi-circular couch.

"I mean, where IS everybody?"

"Seven of us are still in deep space, on a mission," Angel replied, ticking them off on his fingers. "Fox has class, Kalen and Myk have been determinedly avoiding one another, and Lolli is working on finding two more power sources for the other Turbo Morphers. And you and I are here, of course."

"What we SHOULD be doing is working out what happened to the Phantom Ruby," Stephen said.

"'Should' is often a matter of opinion. A Ranger took it, and if a Ranger took it, and hasn't told us why, perhaps there is a reason. Maybe we're better off not having it with us just now."

"Yeah, but what if you're wrong? What if someone wants to use it's power to do…I dunno….bad things?"

"That would suck," Angel replied simply. "Another game?"

"Stephen, Angel, please report to the Bridge," Zord-1's voice came from the speakers set into the roof. "You…have a phone call."

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"Terina?" Stephen asked, looking up at the face on the bridge's viewscreen.

"And company," the Yellow Ranger agreed. "Thought I'd touch base….and let you guys know that we might have a problem."

"What's the problem?" Myk asked, entering the room.

Terina held up a piece of machinery, a silverish cube that had a bundle of severed and burned wires hanging from the bottom.

"And that would be…?" Kalen asked from one of the comfortable leather swivel chairs, arms crossed behind her head and feet up on one of the control panels.

"Our Ion Shield," Terina replied. "It's toast. We just got hit by an ion storm that nearly killed us all."

"What's an Ion Shield?" Stephen asked.

"Just like it sounds," Lolli replied. "It's a device that protects the ship from ions, specifically ion storms."

"Ion Storms are created when charged ionic particles from suns and solar flares manage to break into hyperspace," Zord-1 explained. "Any ship moving as faster-than-light speeds will naturally attract them. Thus, every spaceworthy vessel incorporates an Ion Shield into its engines."

"Hold it up, Terina. Let me see the wires," Lolli said, squinting up at the monitor.

The Yellow Ranger complied.

"Yes, they ARE cut, not broken, if that's what you're thinking," the alien confirmed.

"Hmm." Lolli frowned.

"Are you saying it was sabotaged?" Myk asked.

"Almost definitely. Probably just before they left." Lolli turned to the pulsating orb embedded in the nearest console. "Zord-1, bring up all life-sign and motion signatures from inside Station, in the Delta Megaship's docking bay, for the thirteen hours preceding their departure."

There was a long pause.

"I'm sorry, Rangers, but those files have been erased."

"So a Ranger had to have done it," Stephen said. "Only one of us could have ordered Zord-1 to forget."

"And only one of us could have cut the wires," Lolli added. "They're made of pressurized carbon-aurum. It's a diamond-hard superconductor. Only another piece of pressurized carbon-aurum can cut it-"

"Or a powerful magical item," Angel added. "Such as one of our weapons."

"I wonder who it could have been," Myk said sarcastically, glaring at Kalen.

"Are we back on this again?" the Purple Ranger asked, sounding supremely unconcerned.

"So long as-"

"Myk, drop it," Lolli said. "Look, it's most likely that the Ranger who sabotaged the ship is the same one who stole the Phantom Ruby. The Ruby can't be anywhere on Terra, or any of the scanners on the ship would have picked it up by now. It has to be in an area controlled by Zord-1, so the thief could have told Zord-1 not to notice it. All we have to do is search the ship."

"The Ruby's been stolen? Then whoever's room holds the Ruby is the one who tried to kill us," Terina said. "Makes sense. Will you be checking our rooms, too?"

"I don't see why. You wouldn't have tried to kill yourselves," Stephen said.

"Unless that's just what we're expected to think," Kalen said.

"The only Ranger who would be so devious is you," Myk growled.

"Not true," the Purple Ranger argued. "Jareth can be just as devious, and he has less morality than I do."

"Why Kalen. I'm flattered," the Gold Ranger's voice came from the communication. Terina glanced offscreen, smirking at him.

"You're accusing him?" Myk asked.

"Not at all. I'm simply pointing out that we're all suspects here. And if we're searching MY room, we're searching them all."

"Well, when you get to my room, wear sunglasses," Terina said. "Gotta go, we're approaching the planet. Delta Megaship, out."

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Lolli entered Kalen's room, Myk and Stephen in tow. Kalen stood against one of the walls, arms crossed, not looking too pleased with the invasion of her privacy.

The room was, of course, purple. The décor was extravagant, absurdly expensive and designed to look like it. The soft, fluffy purple bed was surrounded by a frilly purple curtained canopy, the vanity table was a dark mahogany with purple engravings, a purple Persian rug covered the floor.

One entire wall was composed completely of video monitors, each one displaying a different area of the ship.

"So you really DO have cameras everywhere," Lolli said absently, scanning the room with her Turbo navigator.

"Not everywhere," Kalen said. "Just a few choice locations."

Myk squinted at one of the monitors. "Hey…that's my room!"

"And that one's mine," Stephen said, grinning. He smirked at Kalen. "See anything you like?"

"Not so far," Kalen said flatly. "Are we done here?"

"No sign of the Ruby, so yes," Lolli said. She handed the navigator to Stephen. "Double-check me."

Stephen took the navigator, surprised. Lolli normally resented it when someone second-guessed her work. "Why-"

"Because I'm a suspect too, so my investigations have to be verified."

"Oh." Stephen performed a quick scan of the room. "Nope. Nothing." He handed the device back to the Green Ranger.

"I don't see how you let someone off the hook when she's clearly been spying on us all," Myk grumbled.

"A pity Troy's not here," Stephen commented. "He can always tell when someone's lying."

"True," Kalen agreed. "I've been trying to find a way to baffle that built-in lie detector of his for years."

Lolli tilted her head, considering. She fiddled with the controls on the navigator, then pointed it at Kalen.

"Kalen, did you steal the Phantom Ruby?"

Kalen raised an eyebrow, but answered. "Well, yes. From Zedd."

"From my lab?"

"No."

"Did you sabotage the Delta Megaship?"

"No."

"No change in heart rate, body temperature, perspiration rate….she's telling the truth."

Lolli turned to Myk. "Same questions. Did you?"

"I can't believe you're even-"

"I'm asking everyone. Answer, please. Did you steal the ruby or sabotage the Megaship?"

"No!"

"You're clean. Stephen? Did you?"

"No."

Lolli handed the device to Kalen. "Ask."

Kalen sighed. "Did you steal the Phantom Ruby or damage the Delta Megaship?"

"No," Lolli said.

"Innocent." Kalen tossed the Turbo navigator back to Lolli. "So now what?"

"If it wasn't any of us, then it had to have been either Fox, or one of the Rangers off-planet. We can ask Fox when she gets out of class. Meanwhile, we search the other Rangers' rooms."

"So coming in here at all was a pointless violation of my privacy?" Kalen asked.

"Looks like," Lolli confirmed.

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The group split up to search the other rooms.

Stephen and Lolli went one way, and Angel went with Fox, who'd been interrogated and deemed innocent upon arriving.

Unfortunately, this left Kalen with Myk, an arrangement that made neither of them very happy.

Kalen walked calmly beside him, seemingly as eager to get this job over with as he was.

"You're being surprisingly calm," he said. "Considering how easily I could snap you in half like a pretzel stick."

"You can," Kalen said. "And you want to. But you won't."

Myk frowned. "What on Terra makes you say that?"

"Attacking another Ranger would be breaking the rules. And you consider yourself above breaking the rules. Breaking the rules is the sort of thing people like me do. If you did it….why, you'd be as evil as I am."

The Bronze Ranger glared at her.

"You are without a doubt the most manipulative individual I have ever had the misfortune to meet."

Kalen smiled. "You have no idea."

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"Well, this….is not at all what I was expecting." Stephen said.

Lolli looked around the interior of Electra's room. The walls were a deep blue, most of the trimmings were black. Various silver ornaments were hung around the room, seemingly at random. Bookshelves were set into the walls, all brimming over with various books and periodicals. The bed was large, and numerous stuffed animals made it their home. Black pages covered with flowery poems written in silver ink were tacked up everywhere. The Black Ranger's ornate vanity table was covered in everything from blue lipstick to blue eyeliner.

For some reason, there was a fog machine running continuously, covering the floor with a layer of mist, as well as a bubble machine, which spat a steady stream of rainbow-colored soap bubbles into the air.

"Always knew she was a weird one," the White Ranger muttered, picking up a silver-framed photo from her nightstand. It depicted Jareth giving her a massive hug from behind, and, as both were smiling broadly, wearing festive hats, and sitting amid the wreckage of several presents' worth of wrapping paper, it had apparently been taken during one or the other's last birthday party.

"Well, what were you expecting?" Lolli asked.

"Skulls, cobwebs, maybe a coffin?" Stephen guessed, replacing the photo. "I mean, she always dresses like someone died."

"Yeah, well, you always dress like you're on your way to a polo match at the country club," Lolli retorted. She flipped open her navigator and scanned the chambers. "Nope. Nothin'."

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Kalen blinked, trying to clear tears from her stinging eyes. "Wow. So that's why she said to wear sunglasses."

Terina's room was blindingly bright, a glaring, vivid yellow that put the sun itself to shame. Once their eyes adjusted, Kalen and Myk realized that the walls themselves were actually glowing, most likely to support the growth of the hundreds of daisies and dandelions that lived in the various pots scattered around the room, as well as the windowboxes that had been attached to the walls. The windows themselves must have incorporated some sort of holographic devices, because through them one saw not the emptiness of space, but rather an extravagant garden, full of sunlight and flowers.

The furniture inside the room was made mostly of white wicker. A few framed photos sat on her bedside table, mostly of the other Rangers, but a few of elaborate flower arrangements. A pair of yellow rollerblades leaned against the bed.

"I knew she liked flowers, but this is a bit ridiculous," Myk said.

"That's not all she likes," Kalen smirked, eyeing the small pair of handcuffs hanging from the bedpost.

Myk shook his head disdainfully, flipping open the navigator and scanning the room. "Not here. Next."

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"Are you sure it was such a good idea pairing Kalen off with Myk?" Fox asked, as she and Angel strolled down the climate-controlled hallways of the Oasis.

"Those two need to work things out," Angel said.

"Yeah, but what if he beats her to a bloody pulp?"

"If she doesn't die, she'll get even. One way or another, it won't happen again."

The two stopped abruptly as they arrived at their destination.

The chrome-finished door slid open and Fox and Angel stepped inside, looking around.

"Lead the way," Angel said, smirking. "You know this room better than I."

Fox glared at him, blushing, then pushed past him and moved further into the room, scanning for any signs of the Phantom Ruby.

Angel gazed around the small, square room appraisingly. The walls were a light, lustrous gray, the closest one could get to silver without actually having metal walls. There was a small but comfortable-looking bed at the side of the room, a closet full of clothes set into one wall, and an electric guitar leaning in the corner. The rest of the room was mainly full of cardboard boxes. Unlike a number of Rangers, Deacon didn't actually live on the ship. The Silver Ranger had an apartment that he shared with a roommate or two, using his quarters on the ship mostly for storage.

And a few other things, Angel amended with a slight grin, catching sight of a pair of underwear lying on the ground that were most definitely NOT Deacon's.

Fox had evidently spotted them, too, because she quickly kicked the incriminating garment out of sight beneath the bed and suddenly became quite engrossed in the Turbo Navigator's readings.

"Well?" Angel asked, stifling a chuckle, knowing full well that to laugh aloud would be to get kicked in the shins. The shins, if he was lucky.

Fox shook her head, her burgundy ponytail bobbing. "Nope. Next room."

Angel turned to follow her out of the room.

"I'm curious," he finally said, unable to resist. "Where does one even get a pair of camouflage panties?"

"Don't bother," Fox spat back through gritted teeth. "They wouldn't suit you."

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"Someone takes his job a bit too seriously," Stephen muttered, scanning Troy's room.

"I'll say," Lolli agreed, taking in the dark blue walls, the guns mounted on them, and the large, paper target of a human being that had a bullethole right where its heart was. The shelf above the bed held a number of model cars, all of them different makes and models of Enforcer vehicles. Even the bedspread was emblazoned with a badge.

Apart from these, the décor was pretty basic: Desk, nightstand, closet.

"Remarkable," Lolli muttered. "The bullethole in that target is located in the exact center. We're talking a perfect shot to a microscopic scale, here."

"Well, we knew he was good," the White Ranger replied. "After all…he caught you."

"I was sick that day," Lolli muttered.

"Not here," Stephen declared, snapping shut the navigator. "Next."

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"He's been here for months, and this is all the decorating he's done?" Kalen asked. She flipped up the Turbo Navigator and began to run a scan. While it was running, she let her eyes wander over the red bedspread, the red curtains around the porthole, and the poster above the bed of a Formula-1 racing car.

"What is it with men and cars?" she wondered idly.

"I've never understood that, either," Myk said, fiddling with a small toy tyrannosaurus that had been sitting on Tommy's bedside table.

"Look at that. We just agreed on something," the Purple Ranger said, smirking.

Myk glared at her.

"Not here," Kalen said, tossing the device to Myk. "Double check me if you like."

Myk wasted no time in doing so.

"Who are these people?" the Purple Ranger asked, examining a picture on Tommy's bedside table.

"Friends of his," Myk replied. "His team from back home."

"I guessed that they were Rangers," Kalen replied. "The clothes always give it away. He had this on him when he was brought here?"

"Um, no," Myk said, his attention still on the screen he held. "Zord-1 synthesized it from his memories."

"Ah. I thought he said his girlfriend was blonde? Wasn't she pink? This girl has brown hair."

"That's the first pink. One's Kim and one's Kat, I forget which is which. I think he dated both."

"So, he has a picture of his ex-girlfriend, but not his current? Interesting."

"He has a pictureof his original team," Myk corrected scathingly. "You'd understand if you had a sentimental bone in your body." He closed the navigator. "This room's clean."

Kalen gasped theatrically. "You mean I told the truth, again?!"

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A wave of almost blistering heat rushed out at them as the doors to Jareth's room slid open.

"Woah. Someone likes it hot," Fox said. "I always wondered how he could stand wearing so many layers of black."

"He claims that there's only so much gold a straight male can get away with wearing," Angel commented as they entered.

Unlike the other rooms they'd been to, this one was perfectly round. The circular wall was a dark midnight blue, as was the ceiling, and both were dusted with glittering gold stars. All the furniture was a polished mahogany, also dusted with gold. A number of bookshelves were set into the walls, mostly full of ancient-looking tomes, but more than a few displaying assorted relics and antiques…all of them, of course, gold.

In the center of the room, directly beneath the crystal chandelier, was a fluted column of black marble, atop which sat a golden platter piled high with freshly-baked oatmeal raisin cookies.

"What keeps those from going stale?" Fox asked, glancing around vaguely.

"Jareth cast a spell on the plate," Angel replied, scanning the absurdly warm room. "His first successful spell, he said. Well, the first one he got right on the first try."

Fox took a cookie and bit into it. As she did, the pile rose, as though a new cookie had been generated at the bottom of the pile. She raised an eyebrow.

"Was…that part of the spell?"

"No," Angel replied. "That was a food replicator that he had Zord-1 build into the column." Angel snapped the navigator closed. "No Ruby here."

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"Pink," Stephen observed.

"Pink," Lolli agreed, scanning Mara's frilly, absurdly feminine room. "But no ruby."

The walls were a light pastel pink that sparkled with glitter as the light struck them. There were a number of stuffed animals scattered around, the sort that were small and fuzzy and wore baby doll tee-shirts. The vanity table was absolutely covered with various different kinds of makeup. Designer clothes (all of them one shade or another of pink) spilled out of the closet, and in the corner stood a three-sectioned mirror, the kind designed so that one could see every possible angle of one's own outfit. Scented candles were everywhere; though none of them were lit, they still gave the room the overpowering smell of strawberries.

A stack of fashion magazines sat near the bed. One of them, still open, had been placed face-down atop the bedspread; Mara had likely been in the middle of reading it when she was called away.

On entire wall was plastered with frameless photos taken of every subject imaginable, from sunsets, to sculptures, to bowls of fruit, to the Rangers themselves. There were also photos there of a number of other people that could have been other friends of Mara's, or simply random people off the street.

A door in the back led to a darkened room that turned out, in fact, to be an actual darkroom, rows and rows of photographs clipped to overhanging wires suspended above sinks full of developing baths.

"Did you know she was into photography?" Stephen asked.

"I hadn't realized the girl had enough of a brain to have actual interests," Lolli admitted. "Come on, we're done here." She snapped the navigator closed and left the room. The White ranger followed, but paused in the doorway, glancing back.

"Pink," Stephen said again to the empty room, before following after Lolli and closing the door behind him, leaving the lights to switch themselves of automatically.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"No sign of it anywhere," Lolli said, tossing the Turbo Navigator onto the console and plopping down into one the bridge's comfortable leather chairs.

"We didn't find anything, either," Fox said.

The doors slid open and Myk entered the room. Everyone else looked at him expectantly.

"Sorry," he said. "Nothing."

There was a collective sigh.

"Where's Kalen?" Stephen asked.

"She took off, and good riddance."

"So what are our options?" Angel asked.

"Well….it's possible that whoever took the Ruby hid it one of our rooms, instead of their own," Lolli speculated. "That would be the smart thing to do. But I don't think that our authority over Zord-1 supercedes another authorized user's 'territory', as it were…"

"You're saying that if the thief DID hide the Ruby in one of our rooms, then Zord-1 would be able to see it," Angel translated. "Because no one else can dictate how Zord-1 behaves towards our personal rooms but ourselves."

"Yes."

There was a pause.

"Has anyone thought to check Station?" Stephen asked.

"I did. Not there," Lolli replied.

"Might I make an observation at this point?"

Everyone started in surprise, turning to face the small black laptop that sat open on one of the nearby consoles.

Pilot was another of Lolli's creations. Originally an AI she'd programmed before becoming a Ranger, she had later upgraded him using technology similar to that she'd used to create Diskette. Although he was not mobile, the sentient machine often had insights that most others missed. So rarely did he actually speak these, however, that is was easy to forget that he was anything more than an ordinary laptop computer.

"Has it occurred to any of you that if the thief is one of the Rangers currently on board the Delta Megaship, he or she may well have decided to take it along with them?"

The Rangers on the bridge exchanged worried glances.

"No, Pilot," Zord-1 said calmly. "I do not believe it did."