Chapter 29 – The Man In Black
September 5 1998 – Astro Megaship
Carlos ran his hands through his hair as he cut a lonely figure on the Astro Megaship. Yesterday had probably been the worst experience for him during his time as a Power Ranger. Psycho Black had separated himself from the remaining Psycho's and was continuing his cruisade to eliminate the black Space Ranger. Unfortunately for the other Space Rangers, Psycho Black was a little smarter than his fellow Psycho Rangers and wasn't limiting himself to the black ranger. During a battle yesterday, Carlos went to land an attack on Psycho Black but at the last second, his evil counterpart had pulled Cassie in front of him and used her as human shield. Cassie had been seriously hurt and as a result, Carlos was practically inconsolable.
Since the incident everyone had been trying to tell the black ranger that Cassie's injuries weren't his fault. The pink ranger herself had told him just as much went she had woken up but even her pleas fell on deaf ears. Carlos had gotten up that morning exceptionally early just so he could avoid the other rangers. As soon as he had finished his breakfast, he had gone down to the Simudeck to train. Things didn't go so well as the training dummies were able to get the best of him.
Frustrated with his lack of success, Carlos had left the Simudeck and it was then that he bumped into Andros, "Hey Carlos we've been looking everywhere for you", the red ranger stated.
"Yeah I just wanted to get some extra training in this morning", he sighed.
Carlos tensed as he expected Andros to begin another speech about how Cassie's injuries weren't his fault but to his surprise, that lecture didn't come, "You've got an incoming transmission from Earth", Andros said.
"From Earth? Who could that be?" Carlos frowned.
Andros shrugged, "Dunno, I'm not an answering machine", the red ranger shrugged and walked away.
Carlos watched him retreat before making his way onto the bridge. When he arrived there were two familiar faces on the viewing screen, "Charlie, Adam, this is a surprise".
"I'd just I'd give you a call to see how everything's going", the Blue Turbo Ranger replied.
The black ranger shook his head, "Ash called and told you what happened to Cassie didn't she".
Charlotte nodded, "Look I know you've probably heard this lots of times before but it wasn't you're fault Carlos".
"How can you say that?" Carlos snapped, "you weren't there. Now all I can think about is what if it happens again?"
Adam took a deep breath, "Carlos things happen in the heat of battle", he began, "I've made mistakes before and so has every other ranger".
"None of their mistakes hurt another team mate did they?" Carlos sulked.
"No but I've seen footage from the battle", Adam replied, "the momentum you built up in your swing would've hit Cassie even if you had realised what Psycho Black had done".
There was a brief silence between the trio before Charlotte spoke up, "Carlos you're a great ranger and an even better friend". She gave him a smile, "Remember that time you retrieved my science project in the eighth grade after some bullies stole it from me", Carlos smiled as he recalled that event, "that's the type of person you are".
"Carlos you've come a long way from that arrogant soccer player I coached last year", Adam continued, "someone who didn't want to play as part of a team".
"And someone who took on a monster all by himself, only to get turned into a vampire", Charlotte added.
Carlos snorted, "Thanks for reminding me".
"The point is that the Carlos I knew wouldn't have been too concerned about his team mates, even if they were his best friends", Adam stated, "I'm proud of you man". The black ranger gave his immediate predecessor a genuine smile, the first one he had given anyone for the last 24 hours, "Now I'm sure you two lovebirds want to catch up so I'll leave you alone", Adam added before standing up and leaving Charlotte and Carlos alone.
"You're looking well", Carlos began, "how's things back on Earth?"
"Pretty good", she replied, "we've got a Ranger meeting tomorrow to finalise a defence strategy". She sighed, "I'll be honest I feel a little uncomfortable, the older rangers are trying to take over, even though myself and Justin co-ordinated everything". She shook her head, "It's like there are several different factions fighting over the smallest details and we're not acting like a single group".
"I'm sure things will work out", Carlos replied, "if an invasion happens, I'm sure everything will come together".
Charlotte nodded slowly, "I miss you", she began, "all of you but mostly you".
"I miss you too", Carlos smiled, "I'm stuck on a ship with two couples".
"Just don't get any ideas with Karone", Charlotte laughed, "I don't care if she was the Princess of Evil, I'll still kick her ass if she steals you from me".
"That's not going to happen", Carlos replied. The alarms on the bridge began to sound, Carlos looked at the readings and saw that Psycho Black was attacking the nearest planet, "Sorry Charlie, duty calls", he stood up and touched the screen, "I love you", he added.
"I love you too", she sniffed, "now go get Psycho Black for me". The black ranger nodded and ran off the bridge towards the jump tubes.
Onimasion
The nearest planet was called Onimasion, a technologically advanced planet filled with bright neon lights. The main city was a spiralling metropolis that was rather uniquely on two levels. A giant steel and concrete plate separated the two different levels and the plate was held in place by several supporting pillars. It was one of these pillars that Psycho Black was attacking. The local military was trying to fight the Psycho Ranger but there weren't having much success. Several soldiers had already been scythed down by Black and he was showing them no mercy.
The six rangers descended through the top of the plate on their Gliders and soon caught up with the battle. Andros jumped off his board and immediately found the commanding officer, "What's the situation Captain?" he asked.
"Whatever that thing is has killed five of my best men", the military captain began, "if he destroys that pillar then hundreds of thousands will be crushed to death".
"Alright pull your men out", Andros replied, "and try and evacuate as many civilians as possible". He pulled out his Spiral Saber, "We'll take it from here".
The captain nodded and immediately his men began to fall back, "Leaving so soon", Psycho Black called out, "and I was just getting warmed up". He threw his Psycho Rod towards the retreating soldiers but Carlos batted it away, "Back for round two, I didn't think you'd have the guts after what you did to your little friend".
"Your mind games won't work on me", Carlos declared proudly as he swung his Lance towards Psycho Black. The creature blocked it with his forearm and rolled into the dirt, retrieving his Psycho Rod in the process.
"You can't defeat me and disarm that bomb in time", Psycho Black called out.
The announcement of a bomb immediately got the rangers attention, "Karone, Ash", Andros called out to his two best mechanical experts, "see if you can disarm that bomb". The silver and yellow rangers nodded and hurried over to the pillar. "Alright the rest of you", he pointed his Saber towards Psycho Black, "let's go".
Jumping over Carlos, the blue ranger brought his Astro Axe down across the arms of Psycho Black. The Psycho Ranger cried in pain but that didn't slow him down. Black rammed his Psycho Rod into the abdomen of TJ and threw him over his shoulders like a farmer would discard a bale of hay. Andros was next to attack and slashed Black across the chest with his Saber. Black took a couple of steps back to absorb the blows and replied with a strong kick to Andros' chest, sending the red ranger rolling away from the battle.
Cassie hurdled her fallen leader and charged in, her Satellite Stunner blazing. Carlos found his feet again and had combined his Lunar Lance with his Blaster, creating a rifle like weapon. Black twirled his Psycho Rod and deflected most of the blasts but some were reaching his body. A few chunks of armour were thrown off and some wires were exposed. In desperation, Black threw his Rod at the two advancing rangers, striking them across the chest. Carlos was thrown backwards a few feet but Cassie dropped to the ground. Black retrieved his rod and pulled Cassie off the floor. He held his weapon tightly against the throat of the pink ranger just as Carlos regained his footing, "Not so fast black ranger", Psycho Black began, "one more step and I'll snap her neck in half".
Carlos had his rifle pointed directly at Psycho Black but the movement of Cassie's head kept moving across his line of sight. A misdirected shot could mean the end for the pink ranger, "Carlos take the shot", Cassie called out, "I trust you".
The black ranger took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, pulling the trigger in the process. The laser blast hit Psycho Black in the head, shattering his visor and half of his helmet. Black let go of Cassie, who immediately moved as far away from the Psycho as possible. Andros meanwhile had gotten back to his feet and put his Spiral Saber into Booster Mode. A powerful blast disintegrated the rest of Psycho Black armour but at the cost of revealing the monster underneath.
"Great", TJ wheezed, "I hope the girls are nearly done with that bomb. We could really use their help".
Over at the pillar controls, the yellow and silver rangers were trying to disassemble the bomb from the pillar, "Are you sure you know what you're doing", Ashley said as she pulled out some wires from the structure.
"Yeah", Karone began before pausing, "mostly". The yellow ranger stopped and glared, "I've only ever assembled explosives before but the principles the same". She pulled out a wire and the countdown began to accelerate, "Erm, oops".
"Please tell me you know how to fix that", Ashley cried.
Karone rubbed the top of her helmet, "Fix no, bodge together a solution", there was another pause, "probably". Ashley wanted to throttle the silver ranger right now but in two minutes it wouldn't matter anyway.
Back with the other rangers, Psycho Black's monster form was giving them some difficulty. The monster had a rocky body and most of their attacks were bouncing off its skin. TJ jumped in first but his Astro Axe was almost blunted by Psycho Black's skin. Even the blasts from Cassie's Satellite Stunner were not having much effect, "Come on, something's got to work on its skin", Carlos said.
"If Ash and Karone were here then our combined attacks could work", Andros replied.
"Someone called", the yellow ranger shouted. She was carrying a device in her arms that had several wires dangling behind her. Both Ashley and Karone were running at a fair pace and without pausing, the yellow ranger threw the device at Psycho Black.
"Everyone get down", Karone called as she dragged Andros and TJ to the ground. Psycho Black caught the device and his eye went wide with realisation, it was the bomb he had planted on the pillar and the countdown had just expired. A massive explosion disintegrated his body in a fraction of a second and the shockwave from the blast threw the rangers across the ground, showering them with dust and debris in the process.
When the smoke had cleared everyone looked towards the silver ranger, "Guess I don't know how to disarm a bomb", she shrugged.
"Are you sure that you're not still evil?" TJ shook his head.
"Let's look on the bright side", Karone replied, "we've only got two Psycho Rangers left to beat".
"She's right", Carlos stretched out his arms, "Probably the two most dangerous ones as well".
Andros nodded in agreement, "We should probably stay behind to help clean up the mess", he pointed at the debris field that was littering the underground city. Fortunately the pillar was isolated from the main part of the city so no innocent civilians had been hurt.
"Thanks for getting Charlie and Adam to talk some sense into me", Carlos said to the others as they powered down.
"Well we know that you really miss her", TJ replied, "and Adam was always good at talking sense into you".
The black ranger smiled in appreciation before turning to the silver ranger, "Charlie did joke that with all the other couples on the ship we might end up together. She was joking of course", he added with a shake of his hands.
Karone looked the black ranger up and down, "I can see why", she said cryptically before walking off. Everyone laughed as Carlos stood rooted to the spot, eventually breaking into a laugh at the joke at his expense.
Unseen by the rangers, Psycho Red and Yellow had watched the death of their fellow Psycho Ranger. "So much for going it alone", Yellow said with a bored tone.
"He was a fool to think he could do it without us", Red snorted, "now we're in a weaker position than ever".
Psycho Yellow placed her hands on Red's shoulders, "Then perhaps it's time to increase the stakes, all or nothing".
Red turned his head slightly, "I'm listening".
"We hit them where it hurts the most", Yellow began, "their home planet of Earth".
"Don't be so ridiculous", Red snapped, "you know that Earth is protected by a forcefield".
Yellow brushed her fingers lightly against his face, "There might be a way to overpower it and the source of that power it almost right on their doorstep", she smirked.
Red thought about this for a moment, "So what's in this for you, other than the death of the yellow ranger".
"I don't really care about her anymore", Yellow proclaimed, "self preservation is the name of the game. Plus if we can overthrow Earth, we can rule together as King and Queen".
Red snorted, he wasn't too keen on sharing power but if it brought about the destruction of the red ranger then he was willing to go along with her plan. They snuck away from the planet and began to set course for Earth.
A/N – Yup the Rangers really did blow up Psycho Black with his own bomb and I really had a lot of fun writing that scene. It also won't be the only time I get some inspiration from Final Fantasy 7 either.
Quick announcement I've published a new story in the Power Rangers/Super Sentai crossover section called "Stranger In A Strange Land". Feel free to check it out if interested.
