Chapter 48: A Sticky Surprise

"OK. I am officially more bored now than I was before."

He fell onto his back and looked up at the cloudy sky, covering his eyes to shield them from the sun. The cryptic warning Slashing Vengeance had uttered hadn't really sunk in until long after the post-battle debrief but there was nothing much he could do right now. Asking Kotori to ask Kotaro about what he knew about Dictator Bloody brought up a whole lot of nothing as it seemed as though the Kamen Rider didn't know the full details either. He had made some degree of progress in connecting the chat room with his HUD display in his helmet though; even though his System was in the hands of Australasia Worldwide. While a live feed was still a ways off, he was confident he could ask any watching Riders about strategies. There was a small part of him that really wanted to hear Kotori and Nozomi's voice again but, until he could work out the intricacies in a cross-dimensional video link, it would still be a ways off.

On the other hand, he had been praised by almost everyone for his quick thinking, strategy and speed in taking down a dangerous Wraith with minimal support and assistance…which didn't really sit well with him as he thought Serena deserved some of the praise as well. The only people that didn't praise him were the business owners on George Street and Gaby, who had chastised him on allowing Serena to use the Speed Spear without putting it through its paces. He shook his head again and growled in irritation. The scope of the battle was changing right in front of them and it seemed as though he was the only active participant who was noticing. Jabarkas' creation of monsters that weren't Wraiths and the emergence of Slashing Vengeance, a monster from another dimension, were pushing the field of battle in increasingly personal ways. It wouldn't be long now until the dam broke and his past as an Ultra Ranger was out in the open. He was damned if he wasn't going to fight against it as long as he could though.

"Can't be helped, Sugarcube," AJ chuckled, patting him on the back, "with your System being poked and prodded by the tech guys, there's not a lot of reason for you to be in the office."

He chuckled again and closed his eyes. He wasn't worried about the upgrades being dismantled as the secret cache of ZARS he had placed into the housing would keep everything running to his exact specifications. The only issue he would have was if Jabarkas or Bloodless Mary capitalised on his dual superhero identity and unleashed a Wraith or monster. With no other Rangers around the Sydney area, Alex having taken off one a spontaneous trip to the Arctic Circle to stabilise his returning powers, he would be literally on his own and would be running a massive risk if he morphed. Interestingly enough, he had planned for this very scenario and had spent a few hours testing out what he could and couldn't morph into. As had been the case in the other dimension, he could only hold a stable morph into his full Ultra Armour for a maximum of six or seven minutes, though it felt slightly more concrete and cohesive than it had been in San Angeles. His Ninjetti Morph was the most stable of the lot, though, allowing him to comfortably leap around the Ultra Cavern without any sign of energy drain. Other suits he could morph into without difficulty were his Time Guardian Powers and the Giant Squid-based powers that he had used against Psychogre.

"You're probably right about that." He shook his head and looked up at the sky again. "What I don't understand is how Gaby allowed you to get away from work. Those new students have gotta be clamouring to get in, right?"

AJ nodded, glancing at her phone and hoping it wouldn't ring. The top brass had allowed her to take one day off from verifying potential students and weeding out the non-genuine applicants; though, only on the condition that she would dedicate most of her working hours to non-Rider related matters. It was something that seemed very strange to her as she had been hired as a public relations officer but there had been a spate of several people leaving their jobs in the past few weeks. As a result, everyone had to be pulled from their normal duties to fill in for those spots until new candidates were found. With Weihan off on his 'enforced suspension', his regular duties had been shifted to her as well but it was only on a temporary basis until everything with his System checked out. On the other hand, the work he had been hired to do in the first place seemed to fall to the wayside in light of how well he had answered several press questions earlier in the year. At the rate he was going, he would be ending up sharing the role of PR officer with her, something she was actively looking forward to.

"The new girl is working with them; though Ah still don't trust her." She shook her head and sighed. "There's something about her that puts me on edge and reminds me of that Green Ultra Psycho Ranger."

The Kamen Rider shook his head as he tried to connect the dots between the two individuals. Although he had been sequestered in Equestria for much of the Psycho Ranger's attack, he recalled something about plague spores being inflicted on the population. From what he had seen going through the logs and recordings of those days, everything had gone to hell in a hand basket with multiple gruesome deaths, injuries and mass orgies everywhere. Lawsuits had been settled out of court and money, among other things, had been exchanged under tables and when the dust finally cleared…everything was more or less the same. Sure, a few students and teachers had to leave the school due to 'accidental' pregnancies or unexpected orgies, but everything more or less settled back into routine until Lustor's attack and the headaches that produced. Dropping that train of thought, his mind went back to the first time he had met the new hire – after his dimensional double had gone back. There hadn't been any communication from him since; except a rather sarcastically worded message about 'loving the rearrangement of Circular Quay' he had done.

"There aren't any spores though." He looked up at her, furrowing his brow. "On the other hand, she has a very slight amount of the smell that was around Contender and Nekros. I don't want to jump to any conclusions though. Not until I have a concrete understanding of what she is."

"Do you think she's a remnant of Xonix's forces?"

AJ's question made him pause for a moment. Jabarkas had survived and had implied that Twinlobe was still around but he hadn't seen hide or hair of the Anishan since the Final Battle. On the other hand, he wasn't really sure anyone could survive being engulfed in a white-hot sphere of plasma for several seconds without dying. However, Zara didn't seem cunning enough to be a disguised Twinlobe or a general that hadn't been called for during his campaign. If he had to categorise her at all, it would be more along the lines of a monster of some description. The only problem was which evil was she working for?

"The thought had crossed my mind but no." He said. "If I had to place my bet, I would say that she's probably a Nighlock in disguise or an escaped criminal from the future. Wes did say once that they never really managed to capture all of the mutants Ransik set free."

He shook his head again before sighing. Time Force had informed Wes that there were a total of five mutants still on the loose but not to worry about them too much. That…hadn't stopped the Red Ranger from searching the streets whenever he could as five mutants could still pose a great risk to the surrounding civilians. During one of her assignments to Sydney, Jen had informed him that those mutants would be captured or destroyed in good time and that he would be personally responsible for the destruction of three. He didn't know what to think about that but, as it was likely to be in his future, he wasn't going to dwell on it for the time being.

"So, that begs the question." He began cautiously. "Which side is she playing for and how much information does she have at her disposal? You spotted her, on two occasions, dropping those mirrored shards and I would think there would be no coincidence that there was a siege of the office done when I was away."

AJ shook her head. It seemed Weihan's thought patterns hadn't changed one bit from when he was regularly saving the world from an alien menace. Of course, he hadn't outright accused her boss of being an alien spy but, towards the end anyway, he had been jumping at shadows and seeing things that weren't there. It was one of the reasons why she chose to distance herself from him as she couldn't be too sure if he was going to accuse her of being replaced. They had talked it through recently and had cleared the air over that but he had said that the paranoia he had felt after Face Sucker's attack would always be a part of him. She had conceded the point as seeing a family member turn into a monster would be enough for her to start questioning those around her. Hell, she had even begun to wonder if Bree was a Ranger in this dimension and had started scrutinising all of the places her sister had gone.

"Ah think you're just grasping at straws." She chuckled. "Though Ah do think we should keep an eye on her or at least a tracker. She's first in every morning and pretty much the last to leave; she's either an especially hard worker or someone concerning."

"I suppose you're right. On the other hand…"

Anything he was about to say was lost as a large object silently slid past them. It looked like a Wraith but it was lacking almost every single defining feature, save for the mirrored armour. It didn't have any discernable arms or legs and barely had a recognisable face – just three semi-sunken pits that flashed an eerie blue light at random intervals. It seemed to glance his way before emitting a sound that seemed to be a cross between a laugh and a derisive snort. Weihan blinked twice and looked in the direction the…thing was moving.

"Um…" He rubbed his eyes in disbelief. "Did you just see that?"

AJ could only nod dumbly and look in the direction the Wraith was moving in. Seeing his on-and-off lover clearly still dumbstruck by the sight of it, he sighed and shook his head. He made a move to summon his Turbine but stopped as he remembered it wasn't on his person and was more than likely in various pieces on a countertop. The only option he had available to him wasn't one that he took lightly and would mean a further fusion of his powers. The only glimmer of hope he could see was that he wasn't connected to the Ultra Grid in the other dimension and, as such, any potential fusion would be slowed down. Of course, there wasn't really anywhere for the fusion rate to go except up…now that he had passed the 50% fusion mark.

"A Wraith that looked like a giant blob rolling across the way?" He stood up and brushed the dirt from his pants. "That's pretty hard to miss. The only question is – what the hell do I do about it?"

"It'll look pretty strange if the Orange Ranger defeats it when you're on a break from the office." AJ stated, grimacing softly at the wet sucking sounds coming from its direction."

"Yeah, well," he began, summoning his Combination Morpher, "not much I can do about that. What I can do is stop that thing and hopefully destroy it without having to go full Ultra…or without accidentally merging my powers faster than they already are."

In a flash of light, he had morphed into his Time Guardian Powers. Based on what he knew of the mechanics behind the powers, they would bend space and time to a point where the merging of his powers would reverse itself naturally…or something like that anyway. The documentation went over his head and scanning the equations had made his brain begin to ache in a way that made the Ultimax battle seem like a slight bump. Forgoing the Spear of Time to fight with the Chrono Sabres, he pushed fire to the weapons and leapt high into the air to deliver a powerful slash to the back of the Wraith. Thanks to the information databanks in his suit, he could see that it was fittingly called the Blob Wraith. Allowing a small smirk to flit over his features, he swallowed hard as he could see a container of some sort inside it. If the Wraith had breached the Blood Vault and had stolen away a container of Bloodless Mary's blood, that wouldn't be very good for anyone.

Rolling away from an appendage that came from the Blob, he leapt into the air and locked his arms out in a rough approximation of what 1:50 would look like on an analogue clock. Suppressing the urge to yell out 'Time Strike', he slashed both blades deeply into the back of the Wraith and hoped, to whatever was up there listening, that the attack wouldn't make it bleed. He didn't want to see what crazy weapons a blob would come up with. Pulling his blades out of the undulating mass of the creature, he readied them for another attack…but noticed the damage the short immersion had done.

"Uh…" He looked at the slowly dissolving Chrono Sabres in his hands with slight dismay. "That's not good."

Flipping away from the creature, he dropped his destroyed weapons and weighted his options. Using the Spear of Time would mean its destruction and the Chronos Blaster wouldn't do anything against it but tickle it. Shaking his head in frustration, he ducked behind a cobblestone wall and demorphed, his eyes catching AJ for the briefest of moments as she began speaking into her phone. Closing his eyes, he allowed the Crocodile Spirit to emerge from deep inside him and cover him in the soft material of his Ninjetti uniform. Confident that the mouth covering would disguise his voice in addition to the magical protection, he stood up and instantly fell back as a multitude of appendages and blades stabbed out at him from the crevices in the wall. He was also very much aware of his phone vibrating in his pocket and scowled at the offending device. Rolling away from a poorly aimed smash, he sent a stream of fire towards the creature and whirled away to answer the call…no matter how much his brain was screaming at him not to do it.

"Hello?" He panted, looking around to see what crevice the Blob Wraith would squeeze out from next.

"Where are you? Our sensors have detected a Wraith in the area and Serena is en route." Gaby's voice was stern. "There are also reports of the Orange Ranger battling it. Can you come to the office?"

He paused for a moment as his mind stalled in its tracks, clearly not expecting this turn of events. A low moan behind him snapped him back to his senses as he rolled along the ground – somewhat dazed from the blow to the back of the head. Bringing his arms up on instinct, he caught a thick tentacle between his hands and dug the finger-claws into the slick surface. Much to his somewhat dazed delight, a screech of pain sounded from somewhere close by and he clawed the appendage again as he leapt away. Drunkenly weaving away from the Wraith's attacks and trying not to welcome his breakfast again, he finally put enough distance between the Wraith and himself to clear his mind somewhat. Finally taking a moment to appreciate the surreal situation he was in, he inhaled sharply as he saw the Blob Wraith barrelling towards him faster than he would have thought possible.

"Ah shit, I mean, no." He shook his head as a silvery tendril stabbed the ground next to him. "Kinda in a sticky situation here; caught between the Ranger and the Wraith. Also too close to them to make a run for it. There's also something inside it; a container of some sort. Has the Blood Vault been breached?"

"Not that I am aware of." Was it his imagination or did she sound worried? "Anyway, just stay out of the way. Help will be there shortly."

Staying out of the way was easier said than done. Hurling another fireball at the Blob Wraith, he tapped the side of his visor to scan the outlying areas but he made the mistake of taking his eyes off the monster. Within seconds, the creature had him ensnared in several acidic tentacles and leaving him wondering which way was up. A few slams into the ground and he was wishing his Ninjetti Suit had a bit more protection around the chest and upper shoulders. Picking his body off the ground, he shook his head drunkenly as he heard the sound of several teleportation beams around him. Glancing up, he felt his stomach drop to his knees and the hum of adrenaline in his ears.

"Well," he began, looking at the Splinters and Golems around him. "This bodes well."

TBC…