Volume VII - The War of Rangers
Chapter 50—The Rising Son
Aaron
I woke up from my meditative state, glancing around the dark room. Patrick was asleep beside me and would continue to sleep for the next six hours. I found that the power of Orion came with less sleep. Two hours, to be exact.
I slipped out of bed, careful not to wake Patrick, and made my way to the Basement. Maybe Doc Ol was downstairs. I'd need his help figuring something out. Because while I was as close to asleep as I could get, someone had left me a message.
And not a text message.
A Telepathic Message.
At first I thought I was dreaming. I'd heard of some strange things on Eltar; telepathic voicemails, telepathic text messages, etc. But on Earth?
Doc was awake. And he knew what it was and how to get it out.
"A psycho-crane-thingy," I wondered. "Will it work?"
"A psychocranial translator," he repeated correctly, raising an eyebrow. "And yes. Do you think Hunter might have sent it?" Doc asked me as he wheeled around in his computer chair.
"It's possible," I said, shrugging, "but I dunno. In order for him to send it, he'd have to be on Earth. But I thought him and dad went to Eltar after my Orion incident."
"Maybe he came back."
"Yeah, but why?"
"Well maybe that's why he sent you a telepathic message. To tell you why."
It hit me like a brick in the face.
"How did I not think of that before?" I mumbled.
"Well, you've got a lot on your mind after what happened yesterday. We all do."
I frowned, trying not to think of our less-than-successful battle.
I mean, we got Grace back. Messiah kept his word. As soon as he got Gabriel, he undid whatever he did to Grace's Morpher and issued a warning: if we ever stole from him again, he would steal from us.
I had to admit, it gave me chills to know that he possessed the means of controlling us. While keeping our minds completely intact. Grace was a mess from the whole situation. She was shell-shocked beyond belief and would hardly leave her room. And Matt definitely wouldn't let anyone in. Except Patrick and Doc Ol. Doc because Matt didn't have a choice, and Patrick because...well, because Patrick didn't give him a choice. He and Grace were tight.
Beth wanted to see her too, but it didn't quite work out. Grace blamed herself for getting captured and thereby losing Gabriel to Messiah. She couldn't look Beth in the eye. But she'd be okay. I was confident she would be, and I didn't need psychic powers to know that.
We were all tired of being fugitives, though. We'd become somewhat stir-crazy, almost looking forward to a battle just to get out of the house.
But our last battle had taken away any hope we had at snuffing out SPD's forces. Because even though I took Gabriel's Angel Virus from him and locked it up deep inside me, Messiah was able to bring it back. Just like that. With a little syringe filled with God -only-knows-what. And just like that, all the work we'd put into getting Gabriel cured and out of the fray was swept away. And he was our enemy once again.
But it didn't seem that way at first. Not until he tricked Beth into believing he was okay.
Not until he took his "soul" from her Morpher and reached his full power.
Honestly, I had contemplated using the power I'd taken from Gabriel earlier that day, but I didn't want to risk it. I knew the Orion Radiance Ranger would have been able to compete with the full-powered Gabriel, but I didn't know what the Angel Virus would do to me if I used it. Instead, Patrick and I tried fruitlessly to defend Beth, who was weakened from Gabriel's raid on her Morpher. Grace, thankfully, was still near full-power and was able to lead Matt, Jay, and Amy against SPD. Without the Digital Orymeka, though, it took longer than expected.
No matter what we did, though, it seemed like our last battle. Gabriel had knowledge of our base of operations. He knew exactly where we were. He could strike at any moment.
But he didn't.
Beth said it was because there was still part of him that was the real Gabriel—that the virus hadn't completely taken over his body. I disagreed. Silently, that is. I didn't want to crush her hopes, but I knew Gabriel's condition better than her. After the Empathic sessions I'd held with him on a regular basis while he'd been here, I had more knowledge on the Angel Virus than almost anyone. Except maybe Doc Ol and Messiah.
"Aaron?"
I snapped back to the present.
"You okay?" Doc Ol asked. From the tone of his voice, I could tell he'd been trying to get my attention.
"Yeah, sorry; my mind just sort of...wandered."
He eyed me cautiously but said nothing, going back to typing on his computer. A few minutes later, and he had calibrated the psychocranial translator. If that's what it was called.
"Just put this on," he said, handing me a weird transparent helmet, "and try to stay still."
I carefully set the device on my head and stared back at Doc Ol cluelessly. I felt like an idiot. The helmet made me look like a comic book supervillain.
"Now try to focus on the buzzing," Doc instructed, typing in a few commands on his keyboard.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, since that's usually what people did when they were supposed to concentrate. I hoped the sci-fi cliches applied here.
After about twenty seconds, my hopes came true.
"Aaron, it's me," my Dyn's voice blared from the speakers. I quickly spun around to face the monitor, staring into a perfect replica of my Dyn. "By now, you've probably figured out the reason for me sending you a TM; I can't trust any other frequency and I'm not even sure this is safe."
I exchanged looks with Doc Ol, but kept listening.
"Your dad and I have risked a trip to Earth, but I can't tell you why through this. Just meet me where the storm forms."
—50—
Doc was less than happy about Patrick tagging along to meet up with my parents. I knew Patrick would have killed me if I went to meet them without him; and if he didn't kill me, my parents would. So I knew he had to come.
When Doc Ol insisted it was too dangerous to leave the safety of his house and its cloaking technology, and that SPD would lock on to our Morphers as soon as we left, I took my morpher off. I didn't need my morpher to defend myself at this point. I needed to see my parents. If my Dyn risked a trip from the safety of our home planet, he must have had something important to tell me. Patrick agreed.
So, morpherless, Patrick and I were ready to head out.
Except, we'd forgotten we were both partially Eltarian. We'd show up on their scanners as soon as we left the driveway.
"I have an idea," Doc Ol finally sighed. "But...you're not gonna like it."
"At this point, I don't really care," I said, agitated. "I need to see my parents."
Patrick nodded, backing me up.
"Okay," Doc pressed on nervously. "It would be possible to miniaturize my cloaking technology, but only enough to block out the Eltarian signature. So the morphers are still out of the question."
"So what? Let's do it!" I responded shortly, my patience wearing thinner.
"The problem is that the device requires an energy source—a constant one. I know of one, but it would be extremely...um...uncomfortable."
"Doc," I growled, "cut the bullshit; what is it?"
"It's Josh."
I felt my face fall into a blankly surprised expression, mirroring Patrick's own. We exchanged looks uneasily.
"What do you mean 'it's Josh?'" I repeated heatedly.
"Josh is a cyborg—a human modified with technological implants."
"So what? He's an android. What's he got to do with this?" I snapped. I definitely didn't need stupid relationship drama on my plate now. Not when I was trying to rise above the trivial...human things.
Then I realized it was Orion who was getting pissed. I was responding to his feelings so naturally that it was like we were one.
I took a deep breath and apologized to Doc Ol. "I'm sorry. I just...I don't see how Josh is gonna help this situation."
"I can attach an implant to Josh's body and use his bio-electrical energy to power the cloaking device," Doc replied evenly, gesturing Patrick and me into the technical portion of his Basement's lab. "I've been working on it just in case, thinking we could modify it to block out morpher signals like the original cloaking device used on the house—that way you guys could actually leave the house. I just couldn't get it to work properly."
I looked at Patrick, already knowing we had no other choice. I just needed to see if he agreed.
"Let me just say that I'm really fucking uncomfortable with this idea," Patrick said, looking between Doc Ol and me. "I mean, really uncomfortable." Doc looked away, rubbing the back of his head nervously. Patrick turned to look at me and pressed on. "But...we need to see your family. So..."
I balled my fists inadvertently. I shouldn't have cared so much about Josh being around. Patrick and I were past that. I was past that. Josh had to be, too. Right?
"Are you sure?" I asked Patrick quietly, folding my arms. "We don't have to do this. We can find another way."
"Aaron, seriously?" he chuckled. "I'm not about to ask your parents to rearrange their already chaotic plans because of something this stupid. Hunter would probably kill me, anyway."
I smiled at him thankfully. "Alright," I said to Doc Ol, "let's contact Corey and tell her to bring Josh with her when she meets us here."
Our mentor nodded, but I could feel his emotions just slightly, and I could tell he was somewhat content with the way things had played out. Even when he was trying to look at things from a non-emotional perspective, Doc still had our feelings in mind.
"Thanks, Doc," I said.
He turned around, somewhat shocked, but smiled and nodded. "No problem."
In the 30 minutes it took for Corey and Josh to arrive, I thought about the dilemma this would create. My parents had never met Josh, but something told me they had no desire to, either; my Dyn had made it clear that I was idiotic for cheating. My dad tried to be a little more understanding. He'd forced me to talk with Josh, who tried his very best to make me feel like complete and total shit. I mean, he pretended that he had no clue I was with Patrick, made me feel like the most horrible person ever to exist, and then proceeded to tell me he had no clue what he ever saw in me.
Except Josh knew. After Patrick discovered Josh was actually the Zayin Green: Technos Mecha Ranger, shit hit the fan. So to speak. When it happened, I was still comatose, but Jay didn't leave anything out when he caught me up on everything I'd missed. I honestly thought that after purifying the Mecha Squad's Aleph Beyt energies with the Super Stones, we'd all work well together.
It didn't really happen that way.
The Mecha Squad had pretty much ruined their lives. After spending 4 years with only the intent of destroying us, they didn't really have lives. Kevin and Melissa, the Red and Yellow Mecha Rangers, didn't pursue college. They found it easier to operate under the guise of students who were "saving up for college." Sanders, the Black Mecha Ranger and my former high school football teammate, went to LCU with Josh. The classwork was light enough to give them all the time they needed to plot against us. Brianna and Michelle, Blue and Pink Mecha Rangers, were scouts. They moved all around the nation as part of their disguise, claiming to be talent scouts. They never booked a single act, but they were able to scout our talents and hone in on us. No matter where we were.
But now, they just operated as a unit—a division that reported to the Cyber Squad and carried out reconnaissance missions. With the purification of their evil Aleph Beyt energies, their Morphtronic Unit Output was dropped considerably. They were no longer needed in battle.
And that hurt most of them.
But no one took it as hard as Josh.
He'd been on a downward spiral ever since the fiasco on Mount Imperious—right when Corey joined the team as the Aleph White: Solaris Mecha Ranger. See, the Aleph Beyt energies worked somewhat like the Angel virus, bringing out the worst qualities in human beings and amplifying them. All the while, the Rangers of the Aleph Beyt spirits were still there—still able to be human. So Josh was coping with something similar to Gabriel.
Only he wasn't anything like Gabriel.
"So I get to be your blanket?" Josh asked, the hostility in his voice not exactly subtle.
"Yeah, don't get too excited," Patrick responded similarly.
"Can you two not have a pissing match over my brother?" Corey interrupted as she opened the backseat door to her car and held it open for Josh.
Josh grinned sardonically. "A Green Ranger showdown for a White Ranger Prince? Oh, come on. Doesn't that sound a little cliche?"
"Shut up," Corey snapped, beating me to the punch and pushing Josh into the car. "Aaron, you're driving. I'll babysit in the backseat."
I smiled thankfully at my sister, catching the keys as she threw them at me. I looked over at Patrick, whose eyes were lingering somewhere between his normal grey and an electric green.
"Just...be patient," I pleaded.
He exhaled deeply, his eyes cooling off to a cold steel color. "Fine."
Fifteen minutes later and Josh and Corey were knocked out. One perk of Doc's technology was that it required a lot of energy from Josh. So he needed all the sleep he could get. And Corey wasn't as freakishly "super" Eltarian as me—as far as I could tell, at least. She still needed sleep, and that was good enough for me.
"Where are we going?" Patrick asked from the passenger seat, failing to stifle his yawn.
"My Dyn said to meet him where the storm forms," I said, taking my eyes off the road for a second to glance at him. "Think about it."
He was silent for a few seconds as he thought it over. It took him a few minutes, but then I saw the light bulb in his head go off.
"Ooooooooooooh! That's genius!" he half-shouted. "SPD wouldn't be able to track him there. And even if they could, they couldn't get in!"
"Exactly," I replied, taking note of Patrick's struggle to hold in another yawn and I laid my hand on his carefully. "You should get some sleep; we won't be there for another couple of hours."
"Are you sure you don't want to take turns? You've gotta be exhausted."
I silently wondered to myself why I was somewhat scared to tell Patrick about my change in sleep patterns. I wanted to be as human as possible for him. But I was slowly becoming something else.
"It's fine," I said, smiling faintly at him and brushing my thumb along the side of his hand.
I felt his eyes on me even when I looked back toward the road.
He knew I was lying.
"Alright," he said.
What?
I couldn't believe I'd actually gotten away with that response. I knew Patrick wanted to know what was up. He knew I didn't possibly have enough sleep. He knew I wasn't tired. He knew I genuinely didn't mind being awake. But he didn't know why. And I knew that bugged him.
So why didn't he say anything?
He drew his hoodie up a bit and pulled the hood up over his head, then turned his head slightly to the side. "Wake me up when we get there, kay?"
"Sure," I said, though not at all sure of myself.
I took the time to myself to reflect on everything that had happened in such a short time. It seemed like the whole month of June was just a blur. I was lying in a coma on May 18th. It was only June 30th. The entire month had been spent trying to figure out myself. It was like I had been introduced to a whole new person. Only that person was me.
It was like meeting myself from an alternate dimension or something.
In the time I was figuring out myself, I was figuring out Gabriel. And man, did I feel for him. It took me an entire month to go hiking through his memories, whereas it took me all of 2 minutes to go through a year's worth of Jay's memories. Gabriel's memories were cloudy and violent, filled with so many conflicting emotions and ideas and plans. It was like he had ten-times the amount of memories as the average human being, all of them compacted within other memories. It was ridiculous.
But underneath all that was a scared and lonely 20-year-old kid. And so many dark, angry memories. It would be a miracle if he made it through this whole thing and managed to salvage some form of a normal life. A true miracle.
—50—
I stepped in front of the waterfall, sighing. It had been years since I'd visited this place, but everything looked exactly the same.
"What is this creepy-ass-place?" Josh wondered, glancing around his surroundings suspiciously.
I had to admit—at 4 AM with no lights in sight, this place was pretty spooky.
"It's my parents' old training grounds," Corey said, beating me to the punch again as she stepped up to my side, "The Wind Ninja Academy."
Josh seemed to stop and stare at the woods with a new found respect.
"Dustin and Hunter picked this place because only ninjas can find and successfully make the passage," Patrick chimed in, stepping out of the car and lowering the hood of his hoodie.
Josh shot Patrick a confused, condescending look. "Um, awesome. Except, last I checked...none of us are ninjas. So..."
"Luckily, we are."
I turned around, grinning to myself. I knew it was him before my eyes could see him.
My Dyn.
Corey brushed past my side, leaping over the water and into my Dyn's open arms. I saw him falter slightly, seeming to struggle to hang onto her and keep his balance at the same time. Either she was heavier than she appeared or something was wrong. My dad appeared in a dim white light, the waterfall rippling around his body as he stepped through the portal to stand beside my Dyn. He looked worried.
"Aaron," he sighed, as if seeing me literally lifted a load off his shoulders, "Corey."
My blond sister unwrapped her arms from around my Dyn and quickly heading toward my dad.
"Hey Dyn and Dad," I greeted, waving as I stepped onto the pond of water and walked toward them. My dad immediately pulled me into a hug.
"Come here, Patrick," dad said, a lighter tone to his voice.
Patrick headed over, exchanging hugs with my dad as I looked over at Dyn.
"How are you?" Dyn asked me slowly. His voice was ragged, almost like he had a sore throat or something.
"I'm okay," I replied, smiling proudly, "everything's okay with Orion now. I've got it all under control, and I've been working on using my Empath Powers more.." I cleared my throat and hesitated before asking, "How, uh...how are you? You look a little...worn out."
My Dyn shrugged it off, mumbling something along the lines of "it's nothing." But I heard my dad make some kind of disapproving sound under his breath.
"Come on, let's get inside," Dyn changed the subject,.
I glanced at Patrick, who seemed to share the same slight concern I felt about Dyn's health. But we didn't say anything.
We followed my parents over the waterfall threshold, crossing through the portal seemlessly and being greeted by the shining lights of the academy.
"Who's your friend?" my dad asked genuinely as we strolled down a random path, following Dyn.
"He's a Mecha Ranger," I said back quickly, almost defensively.
"I'm Josh," said 'friend' interrupted haughtily, pushing himself in front of me. "Nice to meet you."
I bit my lip anxiously as I eyed my dad's reaction. I watched his eyes travel from Josh's face to Patrick's, and then I felt them settle on mine.
"Oh."
"Wait," Dyn said gruffly, stopping in his tracks. Corey sighed, rubbing her head in frustration. She knew what was coming. I watched my Dyn turn around slowly, fixing Josh with his elctric blue eyes. "Josh as in Joshua Anderson?"
Josh looked at Corey nervously before nodding his head.
I felt my Dyn's eyes narrow on me like a laser beam. I could almost hear him yelling at me in my mind, but I was hoping I was just imagining it. Or maybe he was literally yelling at me in my mind.
"Josh had to come with us," Corey said, interrupting the awkward staring contest between my Dyn and me. "His cybernetic implants and his Technos powers allowed Doc Ol to add the same cloaking technology used on Doc's house to Josh's body."
Dad nodded, grabbing Dyn's shoulders as inconspicuously as possible and trying to reinitiate the whole walking thing. After all, we were supposed to be taking care of something important. Not delving into the stupid complexities of my love life and all its flaws.
"Yeah, well," my Dyn continued as dad tried to drag him along, "that better be the only thing Josh's body is needed for."
"Whoa, okay," I finally snapped, "if anyone is interested—which apparently everyone is—Patrick and I are back together." I grabbed Patrick's hand and pulled him up near me. "Josh is here on Ranger business. That's all."
My Dyn cleared his throat. "Oh, well um...good. That's good."
My agitation continued to surface, but I tried to get the better of it. Having my personal life put on display wasn't something I appreciated, especially when I was trying to deal with intergalactic warfare and craziness.
"Yeah, so now that we're straight on that and we know I'm not a complete and total failure; what did you have to tell me?" I asked angrily.
Dyn sighed, as if gathering more energy than necessary just to tell me what was going on.
Dad took over, his hands instinctively moving up to Dyn's shoulders again, massaging the stress away. "Your Dyn's been under a lot of pressure lately," he said. "He's been over-using the Dyr Orion transformation to teleport around the galaxy undetected. That's how we got here without SPD tracking us."
"You've been using the Dyr Orion to teleport?" I asked, outraged. "How is that even possible?"
"I have a lot more power than you think, Aaron," Dyn replied defensively. "You're not the only one trying to clean up Mesomorph's mess."
"I never said I was," I shot back, "but I've been working my ass off trying to get control of Orion and fix your mess!"
I tried not to take note of the shocked silence. But I saw the look of intense hurt flash across my dad's face. He was always a little less in control of his feelings than Dyn, whose face remained composed and unreadable. I felt the tension emanating from Corey, Patrick, and Josh, but I tried to ignore it. All of their emotions were driving me crazy.
"I came here to help," Dyn finally responded, his voice barely above a whisper. "I can use the Dyr Orion to teleport you and your teammates to Eltar so that you could have some meditated guidance and so that the others could get the hell out of Tommy's house without being hunted." He paused and grimaced slightly as he flexed his back. "You...you might think you're in this alone, but you're not."
I took a few moments to process his plan. "Okay, well...I agree with your idea, but I'm not letting you teleport anyone anywhere. If you keep using the Dyr Orion, you're gonna go into heart failure. I'll teleport us."
He almost chuckled. "Aaron, you can't."
"If you can, so can I," I shot back, "I have a lot more power than you think."
"It's not just about power, Aaron. I know the risks of my abilities, but it's my duty as the King to see to the safety of the rest of the royal family. Of my family."
"I get that," I said, "I do. But this isn't Eltar. Earth is my responsibility now, and I'll handle it."
"Aaron, you're 22. I know you want to think you're in charge of all this, but you're not. You're greatly overestimating your abilities."
"No, you're underestimating me."
"You've teleported once from Mount Imperious to Tommy's and you had to sleep for hours afterwards. You think you can teleport across the galaxy with nearly 20 people?"
"Maybe we should ask the rest of the team first," Patrick finally butted in. He hadn't said much the whole time and I was almost shocked to hear him pipe up.
"That sounds like a good idea to me," Corey agreed.
"Fine," Dyn and I said unanimously.
—50—
"So, you wanna tell me what all that was about?" Patrick asked gently as he folded up clothes and set them in a duffle bag. "I mean...things seemed pretty heated with Hunter."
I took a deep breath, turning to face him while I folded my own jeans. "He's just so damned stubborn. And he thinks I don't know what I'm doing and that I'm still just a kid; but I'm not. I'm a man now. Or...something like that."
Patrick cocked an eyebrow at my ending sentence and I sat down on the end of the bed. He followed suit.
"Well," he started off cautiously, "I mean...your Dyn does have a little more experience in this division than you; maybe he knows what's best?"
"Yeah, but even if it kills him?"
"I dunno. I see your point there, but I see his too. I mean...you haven't ever teleported anyone but yourself, let alone through the galaxy. Do you really think you could do it?"
I sighed, smiling somewhat to myself to keep my irritation from getting the best of me. "Patrick, I only sleep for two hours. I don't have a scent anymore. I feel other people's feelings all the time. When I blew up Mount Imperious, I had to struggle to keep from destroying the entire planet. I had to keep my blast from penetrating the core of the Earth and causing a planetary collapse. When I take people's powers, I have to keep myself from absorbing the life out of them." I paused, my words still lingering in the air with a noticeable weight. "I'm...I'm becoming something so powerful that I don't even feel human anymore."
He looked speechless, which was never good for me. Four years ago, when we started dating, I had developed somewhat of a dependency on his ability to explain any and everything and make me feel like everything was okay. That's what he did. With words. I just did it physically.
"Aaron," he said, taking my hand, "you'll always be part human, no matter how powerful you become. Maybe what your dad said about power is true; maybe it's not about the power? Maybe it's about the experience and the control?"
I nodded, somewhat defeated. "I just wish he'd give me a chance to prove myself. You don't know my Dyn like I do. He hates to lose control—to not be in charge of something. My dad's been saying for years that he just lets Dyn do his thing, but he handles all the behind-the-scenes work. Dad practically raised us. Dyn was a luxury for the longest time. And when he was around, he was the best. But he was strict as hell. Everything had to be reported to him."
"Well, isn't that how dads are supposed to be?" Patrick wondered. "I mean, if you think about it in a more human way, Dustin's like a mom and Hunter's like a dad."
"It seems that simple, right?" I asked genuinely. "But I really don't think it is. Dyn's got this way of making you feel...small, I guess. He's like an alpha male on steroids, but on a more mental level, if that makes sense."
"He'll come around, Aaron," Patrick reassured me. "He just...he's probably scared. I mean, Orion probably hates him for all these years of repression. Maybe he's afraid that if you lose your power, Orion will end up consuming you, and not the other way around."
I hadn't thought of that. Then again, Dyn made it hard for anyone to think he could be scared of something. For 22 years, he was the most powerful being alive. Except for maybe Grandpa Zordon. But that didn't leave much room for comparison.
"Yeah, I guess," I finally said, sighing. "Thanks for playing diplomat."
He grinned as I leaned in to kiss him. When I pulled back afterward, something came to mind.
"In the car earlier...how come you didn't ask about the sleep thing?"
He smiled a little half-smile quickly when he asked, "you noticed that I dropped it, huh?"
"Uh, yeah."
"Well...I dunno. I'd feel bad for prying I guess. And...I dunno...I just wanna stay on your good side after...you know..."
I felt my eyebrows furrow slightly in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"About...not...being able to...you know."
"Patrick," I groaned, "I told you I don't care."
"Yeah, but I do," he said, a little too edgily. "I...I know you're not gonna cheat again. But it's just that...you need a sexual outlet, and I can't provide that. Not with all my surgeries still healing. And with Josh in the car earlier, I didn't really wanna get into it."
"There's nothing to get into; I don't need to have sex. It's not like I'm gonna stop breathing if I don't." I didn't understand how he could think I'd hold it against him. Not afer everything he'd been through. Not after everything we'd been through.
He opened his mouth to respond but fell short when we heard a knock at the door.
"It's open," Patrick responded, standing to resume putting his clothes away.
Jay opened the door somewhat cautiously. "Sorry if I'm interrupting," he said, "I just wanted to let you guys know we're all ready to go. Even Doc's packed up."
"We're about ready, too," I responded, standing from the bed. "We'll be down in a sec."
"Gotcha," Jay said, nodding. "I'll meet you down there."
With that, he was gone.
"Ready?" Patrick asked, zipping his bag up
I lingered on the right words to say. I knew we needed to go, but I knew our conversation wasn't over.
"Yeah," I finally responded as tossed the rest of my clothes in my duffle, zipping it and slinging it around my shoulder in one fluid motion. "Let's go."
—50—
Dyn was in no shape to teleport. By the time we'd teleported to Blue Bay Harbor to meet up with him and dad at the Ninja Academy, he'd passed out from exhaustion, but since reawakened.
"I just need like, 30 minutes," he said, fighting a grimace.
"Dyn, why don't you just let me help?" I practically begged. "Look at you!"
"Aaron," he said sharply, "I said no."
"God, you are so stubborn!" I shouted. "You're dying; it's not just a headache or a stomachache or some slight back pain. Your body is going to shut down!"
"I know what I'm doing," he said, just as agitated. "I'm the one with foresight, remember?"
I opened and closed my mouth several times, visibly calming down.
"Did you...did you have a vision?" I asked, noticeably softer.
Dad looked worried at Dyn's bedside. I could tell from the silence that suddenly took over the room that he'd definitely had a vision. Something was going to happen. And he knew it.
"What did you see?" I wondered, somewhat more urgent. "What happens?"
"I have to get you all to Eltar. You have to be therer, or SPD wins."
"What do you mean?"
"Gabriel is too powerful now. He's learned to control his Titan mode, and the Zordians won't be enough to stop him now. That's why they're staying on Earth. If we can lead SPD to Eltar, we can set up defenses there and it will buy you and your team more time. We might actually have a chance."
"So let me help you," I repeated, more pleading than insisting. "Let me use my powers to absorb your knowledge."
He stared back, surprised. "What?"
"I told you I've been working on controlling my powers. Every night, I go into a 2 hour...trance thing. It's like this meditation thing. It helps me center myself and keep all my emotions in check. I'm learning, Dyn, I can do this."
He opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off by Corey bursting into the room.
"SPD is on it's way," she gasped.
"What? How?" I demanded.
"We dunno," she panted, "none of us are wearing our morphers and everyone's on the academy grounds."
I exhaled deeply, panicked.
"We need to move."
"We can't," Dad suddenly spoke up. "Your Dyn needs to rest."
"We don't have time for this!" I shouted. "Give me the power," I commanded my Dyn, turning to look at him.
"It's not about power, Aaron," Dyn shot back heatedly. "I've told you that."
"And I just told you I can take the experience from you."
"No," he said adamantly. "I can teleport us in ten minutes. SPD can't get in here anyway. Did you forget that?"
I rolled my eyes. "You really think SPD doesn't have any recruits who can get past the portal? It's not exactly foolproof."
"It'll hold," my dad said angrily. Dad...angry? What the hell was with them?
"You guys are so arrogant!" I snapped. "You have no idea what Gabriel is really capable of, and if he gets through that portal, we're fucked. When are you going to admit that you're just jealous that there's something I can do that you can't?"
Dad was silent.
He knew I was right.
It was now or never. Dyn was off guard. He was in pain. He was distracted.
I grabbed his wrist faster than he could blink, my eyes immediately clouding over as my powers shattered into his mind.
I tried to keep control, but it was harder than I'd anticipated. Even in his weakened condition, Dyn resisted. But the topic of teleportation was already on his mind. And I pried it loose.
I released my Dyn's wrist, feeling his experience course through me. His shocked, bright blue eyes stared at me in horror. I could feel his anger. His frustration. His violation. And then I felt him slip into a slumber.
"I'm sorry," I said, leaving the room so fast that a torrent of wind burst through the open door of the academy's room.
I sprinted through the building, twice as fast as humanly possible. The rush of adrenaline and my Dyn's experience coursing through my veins made me feel incredible. I was going to show him just what I was capable of.
I slid to a halt near the rest of the Cyber Squad.
Patrick was missing.
"Where's Patrick?" I asked them rapidly.
"Dude, where'd you come from?" Matt wondered, looking around.
"Never mind that!" I fired. "Where. Is. Patrick?"
"I dunno, he went on a walk," Grace replied.
"Does he know about SPD?"
"I don't think so," Beth said, "but who cares? SPD's not coming through that portal."
Irony at its best.
No sooner had Beth let the words leave her lips, our heads snapped in the direction of a sky-rocking explosion.
"You were saying?" I quipped angrily, getting ready to take off.
"Wait," Doc shouted, rummaging through his bag. He produced mine and Patrick's morphers seconds later. "Take these with you. We'll be here if you need backup."
"Thanks," I said appreciatively, hanging Patrick's Zeta Fang Amulet around my neck and sliding the other one into my hoodie pocket. "Be ready to go when I get back."
I shot off the ground, taking to the air as soon as my morpher reactivated and gave me back my light powers. A sphere of photon energy appeared around me in seconds before I skyrocketed forward, a sonic boom rippling off my feet.
Ahead, I could see SPD storming through a crack int he portal. It was like looking through a wall of another dimension.
Patrick was down there. Right next to them.
It took me two seconds to gather a blaze of energy from within me and fire it from the outstretched palm of my free hand.
Bullseye.
Several SPD Rangers flew backward away from Patrick as I swooped in.
"Let's go!"
He didn't hesitate.
I grabbed his hand and pulled him into the air, handing him his necklace from around my neck and his brace from my pocket.
He slid the necklace on with his free hand, then looked up and nodded at me.
Without hesitating, I let him go and he dropped from the air.
Seconds later, I saw a bright green flash as an aura of green lightning wrapped around Patrick before he flew up to join me.
"We've got to hurry up and get everyone ready to go," I said to him over the force of the wind.
"Is Hunter ready?"
"No. I'm teleporting us." Before he responded, I cut him off. "Don't worry, I absorbed the information from him."
He didn't respond as we hurtled through the sky like rockets.
We landed minutes later, the Mecha and Cyber Squads gathered around in a circle. Doc was helping my dad carry Hunter from the infirmary.
"Is everyone ready?" I asked, taking a few deep breaths.
"All set," Doc answered for the group.
I closed my eyes and began to focus my inner energy until the Eyr Orion transformation took over my body. I felt the white-blue flames of energy dance over my skin, felt my hair whip wildly in the rush of power, and felt my body radiate the fruits of my training.
When I opened my eyes, I saw my Dyn's tired eyes look upon me with something close to awe. I had to admit, it felt good.
Until I saw the giant ball of fire headed straight for us.
Gabriel.
I panicked.
My trance broke and I felt a wave of deja vu sweep over me. The blast Gabriel shot at me was just like the one created by the explosion that put me in my coma. Just as much energy. Just as much heat.
Orion took over just like he did last time.
I spread my arms and legs and let out a roar of rage I'd never heard from myself before. Immediately, white pillars of raw light sprang from my body, forming an enormous dome of sparkling energy. I saw the millions of photons spiral around us as my Eyr Orion abilities fought viciously to keep my body alive. To keep everyone alive.
I tried to cling to the experience I'd taken from my Dyn, but my mind was so clouded with panic that I couldn't seem to focus. I couldn't keep the barrier up. I didn't have enough power.
I needed more.
The Cronus energy.
In my desperation, I felt for the reserve of power I'd never dared to open. The one thing I was afraid to explore. I had no idea what it would do.
But I had to try.
Everything seemed to go quiet and still. The shards of light in the air hung still for just moments. I felt my eyes burn as the rest of my body seemed to light itself on fire. Red, angry energy wrapped up my arms and legs, coursed over my body, and then seemed to explode right off of me.
I screamed, the power completely engulfing me as time resumed.
Red light surrounded us, my body tearing itself apart.
And then the Ninja Academy was gone. And the Earth was gone. And there were stars. And Planets. And everything sped past me like little blinking lights of a city. Entire galaxies flew by in the blink of an eye.
And then it was black.
