Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers.
The guardian of strength took a step forward, his right fist coming up from waist level. He grinned as his fist connected under the chin of one of the bounty hunters.
The bounty hunter's head snapped back. The force of the blow was enough to lift him off his feet. His body went flying back, landing several feet away on the ground. He flopped limply onto the ground, and then lay still, unconscious.
The guardian of magic lifted his left hand, hitting one of the bounty hunters in the chest with a beam of magic.
The blow sent the bounty hunter flying back. His back slammed into a tree behind him and he fell to his hands and knees, unable to move.
The guardian of strength ducked under the blow the leader of the bounty hunters took at him. He came back up, his left fist shooting out and hitting the leader in the chest with all of his power behind it.
The leader staggered back, his breath leaving his body in a rush. He sank to his knees, clutching his chest and trying to breathe.
The last bounty hunter charged at the guardian of magic.
The guardian of magic lifted his hand once again, sending this bounty hunter sailing away from him.
The bounty hunter flew backwards through the trees. He did not stop until he was well away from the cave entrance.
The guardian of strength walked over to the leader. "Tell the general, Jason is staying with us," he said. "We will not tolerate any interference from him. Understand?"
The leader nodded, grimacing in pain as he still fought to breathe.
The guardian of strength looked at the guardian of magic. "Let's get back inside," he said. "I think they know we mean business."
Darius silently moved through the cave, heading for the main chamber. He approached the entrance to it, looking around the side to see just who was in there. His eyes began to glow as he spotted Jason standing with the others. He slowly lifted his tentacles, tensing them and getting ready to send them forward to wrap up his prize.
The guardian of strength heard a slight noise in the cave a head of them and motioned for the guardian of magic to stay back. He crept towards the main chamber, spotting Darius. His anger came on and he reached out, grabbing Darius by the shoulders and flinging him from the entrance to the main chamber.
Darius' back slammed into the wall on the other side of the cave. He fell forward onto his hands and knees as the guardian of magic joined the guardian of strength in the cave. Darius looked up, seeing the guardian of strength standing before him. Anger came to his face and he forced himself up from the floor. "You will not interfere with me again, brother," he snarled in a low voice. "The master is going to rule, you cannot stop that from happening."
The guardian of strength glared at Darius. "I may not be able to stop him," he snapped, his own anger flowing through him. "But Jason will and I'm not about to let you take him."
Darius let out a little laugh, his tentacles lifting slowly as he kept his eyes on the guardian of strength. "He does not have a chance," he said. "You should have joined us long ago, brother. We could have been allies instead of enemies."
The guardian of strength shook his head. "I will never join the forces of evil," he said, aware that the others were watching the exchange. "You know that."
Darius shot his tentacles out, meaning to wrap the guardian of strength into them and crush the life from him. He screamed, as his tentacles seemed to hit a wall of fire. His eyes opened in shock and pain as his tentacles began to curl back towards him, glowing with some magic that was slowly destroying them.
The guardian of magic lowered his hands, a slight glow still showing around them. He watched with an expressionless face as Darius' sank slowly to his knees.
The guardian of strength walked over to Darius, glaring down at him. "You chose the wrong side a long time ago, brother," he said quietly. "I tried to warn you, but you didn't listen." He bent over, wrapping his strong hands around Darius' neck and pulling him to his feet. He tightened his grip, feeling Darius' hands come up and grab his wrists, trying to break the chokehold.
Darius felt his tentacles fall limply to his sides, burned and shriveled from the magic that destroyed them. He grabbed at the wrists holding his throat, but could not loosen the grip. He felt his air cut off and the blackness started to creep into his vision.
The guardian of strength tightened his grip even more, wanting to finish the monster in front of him quickly. "I'm sorry, brother," he whispered. "But, I cannot allow you to live anymore. No one will be safe from you unless you are dead." He twisted his hands, hearing a loud snap and Darius went limp in his hold.
He opened his hands, letting the body fall to the floor of the cave. He turned and walked towards the cave entrance, not looking at the others as he left.
The guardian of healing went after him, catching him just as he made it to the main entrance. She grabbed his arm, preventing him from leaving the cave. "Where are you going," she asked.
The guardian of strength looked at her. "What does it matter," he asked. "I just had to kill my own brother. Do you really think the others will want to be around me after that?"
The guardian of healing tightened her grip, not letting him leave the cave. "I think they will understand," she said. "You did what you had to do. I know that wasn't easy, but none of us will think any less of you."
The guardian of strength looked at her without saying a word. Then he slowly nodded, turning with her and heading back towards the main chamber.
The master stood on the bridge of his ship, looking out his viewing window. He felt a sudden, intense pain in his chest and turned from the window. He closed his eyes, clutching at his chest as he searched out the source of the pain. His eyes flew open as he saw Darius die in his mind. He snarled in anger and stormed off the bridge, heading for the brig.
Dimitria looked up from her cot as the master flung the door open to her cell. She sat up as he came over to her. Fear bit at her as she saw the look in his eyes.
The master grabbed her arm, jerking her to her feet. He pulled her from the cell, forcing her out of the brig. Before she could even attempt to struggle, he wrapped his left arm around her waist, pinning her arms to her sides, and teleported her out of the ship.
Tommy and the others ran up to the front of their cage as the master appeared in front of him, gripping Dimitria tightly. Tommy glared at the master. "What is going on," he asked.
The master drew his lips back in a snarl, his right hand reaching up and jerking Dimitria's head back. "Your friends killed my best warrior," he snarled, showing his fangs. "This is to pay them back for that." Before anyone could say anything, he plunged his fangs into the side of Dimitria's neck, burying them deeply in her artery.
Dimitria stiffened as she felt his fangs enter her neck. She gave a moan of pain as she felt him begin to drink her blood.
The master did not waste time; he quickly drained her body of blood, feeling her life slip away at the same time. When he felt her pulse come to a stop, he slowly withdrew his fangs, releasing his hold on her and letting her lifeless body fall to the ground. He looked up, meeting Tommy's eyes, blood dripping from his fangs. "Such is the fate that awaits Zordon's son," he snarled. He turned and stalked away from the cage, leaving the rangers to stare at the dead body of their mentor.
Tommy looked down at Dimitria's lifeless body. He swore savagely and turned away from the sight. They had to find a way out of here. They had to get to Jason and help him defeat this monster before it was too late.
Dulcea felt something inside of her stir and she looked at the guardian of magic. "Can you bring earth up on the viewer," she asked. "I think something is wrong."
The guardian of magic nodded, looking to the viewer as the images of earth came onto it.
Dulcea stood with the others, watching in horror as the master killed Dimitria. She turned to Zordon, tears in her eyes.
Zordon wrapped his arms around her, not able to look away as the master let Dimitria's body fall to the ground. He glanced over at Jason, seeing him standing there in stony silence. Zordon saw Jason's fists clench at his sides and knew that his son was burning with anger.
Jason turned from the viewer, his anger almost out of control. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath to try to calm himself. He felt a hand on his arm and opened his eyes, looking at the guardian of knowledge who stood beside him.
The guardian of knowledge met Jason's gaze. "You cannot face him now," she said quietly.
Jason took another deep breath, letting it out slowly. "I know," he said, his voice low with anger. "But that just makes two that I owe him." He turned to look at the others. "We need to get out of here," he said. "The master knows where we are. We have to leave before he sends some of his warriors after us."
Trey looked at Jason. "We can take my ship," he said. "It is big enough for all of us and it has a cloaking device. The alliance will not be able to track us in it."
Jason nodded, looking at the others. "Gather what supplies you think we'll need," he said. "I want to leave within the hour."
The others nodded, not speaking as grief welled within them at the loss of their friend. The silently went about gathering supplies, following the orders of their leader without question.
Jason looked at the viewer, seeing Tommy and the others move away from the front of the cage. Hang on guys, he thought. We are coming to get you. I have an idea of how to defeat the master and I will need all of you to help me pull it off. He turned from the viewer and helped the others gather their supplies.
Forty minutes later, the group left the cave, following the royal guards into the forest.
The master arrived back on the bridge, looking at some of his warriors. "Find out where Zordon's son is located," he ordered. "Take ten warriors with you and capture him. I want him on his knees before me by the end of this day."
The warriors bowed and rushed off, hurrying to gather the others and obey their master's wishes.
The master walked over to his viewing window. He looked out at the stars shining before him. "You may run, son of Zordon," he whispered. "But you cannot hide from me forever. I will find you. And, when I do, you will die and your powers will be mine."
The guardian of strength stood in front of a small window, watching the stars go by as the ship traveled through space. He did not look around as he heard someone walk into the room.
Jason walked over to stand next to the guardian of strength. "You did the right thing," he said quietly. "I know that wasn't easy, but you had no choice."
The guardian of strength let his breath out slowly. "I killed my own brother," he said softly. "I snapped his neck, killing him without any remorse."
Jason put his hand on the guardian's shoulder. "We are in a war," he said softly. "It's not something we asked for, but in the battle against evil, it's to be expected."
The guardian of strength turned to look at Jason. "I know that," he said. "But, I've never killed anyone before. We always put them in the prison at the monolith. Now, I have killed my own brother. I should have tried to save him instead."
Jason met his gaze without flinching. "Do you think you could have," he asked.
The guardian of strength opened his mouth, but did not speak. He slowly closed his mouth and turned back to the window, shaking his head. "No," he said quietly. "I don't think I could have saved him. He was lost to the master long ago."
"Then you saved a lot of lives by killing him," Jason said softly. "I'm not saying that killing others is easy, it isn't. Nevertheless, sometimes we have to do that in order to protect others. That's the way it is in a war. You may not like it, but you'll do it to save the ones who need your help."
The guardian of strength turned back to look at Jason, studying his face. "How are you doing," he asked softly.
Jason shook his head, turning to look out the window. "Not good," he said. "Every time I close my eyes, I see him killing her all over again."
The guardian of strength put a hand on Jason's shoulder, squeezing it gently. "We are here for you," he said softly. "If you need any of us, just let us know."
Jason looked at him, giving him a small smile. "I know," he said. "I appreciate that and I'll keep it in mind." He took a deep breath and looked back out the window. "The others are gathering in the meeting room," he said. "I have a plan on how to get back at the master. Do you feel like joining us?"
The guardian of strength nodded. "Let's go," he said. "I'd like to hear this plan of yours."
The two of them walked from the room, silently heading for the meeting room.
The general looked at his soldiers as they exited the cave. "We have to get back to the ship," he said. "We'll track him from there. He is not going to get away from us, no matter how long it takes."
The soldiers nodded, following him back into the forest and heading towards their ship.
Tommy was sitting on the ground, his back against the side of the cage. Night was coming on. He looked up as Zack walked over to him.
"Mind if I join you," Zack asked.
Tommy shook his head, watching Zack as he sat down.
Zack looked across the cage, watching the others huddle together to try to keep warm as the sun went down. "You know, Jason will find a way to defeat this guy," he said quietly.
Tommy sighed. "I don't know, Zack," he said. "This master is tougher than anyone we've ever faced before. He seems to be one step a head of all of us."
Zack looked at Tommy. "Don't give up on Jason so easily, Tommy," he said. "Remember when you first became the green ranger? The rest of us wanted to just call it quits, believing that Rita had won. Jason was the only one of us who believed that we could prevail. He was right." He gave Tommy a small smile. "And it was Jason who got you out from under Rita's spell," he said. "He'll win in this fight too, I just know it."
Tommy managed to give Zack a small smile. "I hope you're right, Zack," he said. "Because this is going to be his toughest battle yet."
A/N: That's the end of this chapter. Next one up soon. Let me know what you think.
