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Chapter 19 – Rogue

Acinonyx was gone.

The sound of Panthera's damaged helmet hitting the cracked ground failed to register at all to the Pink Ranger who stood in wide eyed shock and disbelief, mouth hanging open and clawed hands trembling as she desperately tried to process the revelations that had been unceremoniously thrust upon her. Her elder sister, whom she had believed to be dead for over two years had been twisted into some cruel parody of her former self and was being used by the Dark Empire as some kind of experimental weapon; yet through all of her grief and shock and anger a lone, simple and undeniable truth remained and solidified itself in her mind.

Acinonyx was still alive.

Panthera turned to her allies and felt her newfound conviction waver at the sight that greeted her; Masked Rider Ghost's helmet had been damaged and left one of his eyes visible and put the hateful glare he was treating her to on full display whilst Ex-Aid and Aslaug, both of whom were clearly injured themselves frantically tried to stabilise and comfort the wounded and bleeding Mercy.

"Get her onto our transport, I'll go after my sister!" Panthera exclaimed, her movement coming to an abrupt halt after no more than a half-turn and single step. The wind rushed and howled around her and she could feel the coarse particles in the air colliding against at the dust-storm continued yet in that moment a sudden stillness came over the area, the Rangers and Masked Riders looking to one another as each waited for the other to make a move whilst tensions mounted to a silent fever pitch until finally reaching a breaking point that was announced with the sound of Ghost shifting his weight and hefting his sword

"Takeru no!" Build's warning went unheeded as Ghost charged forwards with a roar of unfettered rage and gave a mighty swing of his blade which cleaved through the air where Panthera had stood and gouged the blasted earth with a heavy impact. Panthera had managed to throw herself aside and whilst her discarded helmet remained where it had fallen the twin, curved blades that she wielded had found their way to her hands yet again, which the middle child of the Princes of Edenoi could interpret as nothing other than a further sign of her guilt

"STAND AND FIGHT!" He demanded as Panthera deftly evaded another slash and expertly parried a dozen more in quick succession, sparks of orange and magenta light issuing from the points where their blades met as the one-sided battle continued, with Panthera making no attempt to do more than block and defend herself. This continued for several moments until Panthera was forced to block a powerful swing of Ghost's sword with both of her own weapons and her opponent used the opening to deliver a kick to her chest which sent the Pink Ranger toppling to the ground several feet away, as she struggled to rise Tempestus and Rensa finally seemed to come to their senses and manifested their own weapons as they prepared to intervene; only to find themselves halted by the eldest of the Princes' and nominal leader of the Masked Riders

"You will stand down" Build stated bluntly as he planted himself between the ongoing fight and the Black and Blue Rangers, resolute and unmoving. Tempestus seemed to relent a fraction, clearly deciding how best to approach the situation diplomatically whilst Rensa merely coiled and prepared to tear through Sento if needs be until both responses were pre-empted by Aslaug's gruff and rumbling voice cutting through the air, thick with emotion and charged with barely contained anger

"Sento if any of my friends die on this planet I will present the severed heads of you and your brothers to King Dex myself; take charge and be the leader you're supposed to be!" silenced and cowed by the outburst of the towering woman Masked Rider build looked over to her and saw that Emu had abandoned his armoured form and was using the medical supplies he carried with him at all times to stem the blood pouring from the Red Ranger's chest wounds whilst Aslaug had managed to remove Mercy's helmet, her eyes were glassy and unfocused and a thin trickle of blood escaping from the corner of her mouth as she continued to breathe in shallow, ragged gasps. Sento turned to his youngest brother and Emu, hands never ceasing briefly glanced up at his eldest brother; face lined with concentration and dire urgency

"She'll make it if we get her to the palace but we have to act now Sento!" as if to punctuate the warning Mercy's morphed state which had flickering ominously as it phased in and out of existence around her finally failed, leaving her blood-soaked shirt on display to highlight the severity of her wounds. Build nodded and turned to where Ghost was still attempting to bring the Pink Ranger low, thin gouges in her armour indicating where his blade had grazed her.

He crossed the distance between them in a single movement so rapid that it went unseen, simply appearing behind Ghost and catching his brothers' wrist as he readied his sword yet again.

"I SAID NO! STAND DOWN TAKERU!" fierce tension crackled between them for a moment until the armour around Ghost's forearm began to creak under the pressure being exerted upon it and with a snarl Takeru used his free hand to reach for his Ecto-phase driver and deactivate his armour, returning to his natural state with his dark robes billowing around him as he pulled his hood low over his face to shield his eyes from the dust

"Sisters Sento" he spat "The Dark Empire sends a monster to kill our people and these Power Ranges bring the monsters' sister-"

"Her name is Acinonyx….they've changed her" the brothers each turned to Panthera, the sudden fragility in the tone of the young woman they had only known as strong willed and bitingly sarcastic in the brief time they had been allies somewhat disconcerting. Sento saw that Mercy was being loaded onto the hovering sled-like vehicle that had carried him here, Emu still tending to her wounds and he realised that he had to make a decision quickly.

He made one.

"Surrender your Morpher, you will be taken to palace and present your side of this story to King Dex" Panthera visibly tensed before looking passed the Masked Riders to her her fellow Rangers who were hunched around Mercy's prone form; her blades vanished in twin flashes of fuchsia light and a moment later her morphed state had shattered around her into a thousand embers of glowing pink and she had slipped her Aegis Morpher from her wrist, though she managed to remove her Power Coin from it seemingly without being seen. Sento nodded as he took the proffered Morpher and intoned simply

"All I can promise you is fairness and justice"

A sinking sensation worming its' way through her gut led Paradoxa to believe that something had gone unmistakably awry, and as she shifted her weight within her throne of ornate spiralling blades aboard the command bridge of the Heliothis she found herself staring at the blank viewing screen directly ahead of her, unable to shake the feeling that its' unresponsive silence was mocking her somehow despite the absurdity of the idea.

"Hail him again" she demanded to one of the select few members of her bridge crew who were currently at their stations, with the Heliothis remaining stationary on the moon of Unus she had seen no need to entrust those who were not strictly necessary with information pertaining to the mission that Geryon Nox had been sent to oversee. Seconds passed and the screen remained dark and vacant, with the only light filling the command bridge coming from a honeycomb pattern of lights fitted into the walls, their eerie crimson glow being reflected by the various gleaming chrome and minimalist control panels and work-stations arrayed before her.

The sinking feeling worsened, Geryon Nox former captain of the warship 'Wraith' had failed to make contact at the allotted time and with attempts to hail him going unanswered it seemed increasingly likely to Paradoxa that the situation of Edenoi had spiralled out of control; the detached coolness she imposed over herself slipped a modicum, just enough for her to drum her fingers against the arm of her throne as she contemplated; those few bridge crew members currently present only knew that Geryon had been sent on an undisclosed mission and she was loathe to silence and replace any of them simply for knowing too much but it seemed that sacrifices would have to be made.

"Remotely access the feed from the following units' onboard visual and audio inputs" with that order Paradoxa transferred the relevant data to the work-stations of those members of her crew whose duties related to the given task. After a few more moments of tense silence one of those bridge crew spoke up in a voice that wavered with fright

"My apologies Captain Paradoxa, the streams are unable to be accessed….the error readings state that the corresponding hardware has been disconnected-"

"Silence" Paradoxa brought their fearful prattling to a halt as she tried to make sense of the information and fit into a hypothesis that did not involve the specimen having been destroyed, steadfastly refusing to acknowledge the dread crawling its' way outwards from her gut as she did so.

"Locate the specimen" she ordered firmly and after several more moments filled by the sound of orders frantically being carried out by underlings who understood that their life depended on it she received something that could almost be perceived as a silver lining.

"Captain Paradoxa, we've managed to confirm that the specimen is functional and mobile however due to both the signal jamming in place around Edenoi and the specimens' own….unique power output it's impossible to pinpoint the signal with any greater degree of accuracy than-"

"Understood" Paradoxa sighed, fingers drumming against the arm of her throne once again. It seemed that the prisoner she had provided to Lord Zedd for experimentation still drew breath and as such there was no need to consider the mission a failure at the moment, the signal jamming in place around Edenoi was a holdover from when the planet had been embroiled in something of a civil war with the forces of Count Dregon and his armada and whilst there was still a risk of her brief transmission being detected the insectoid warlord decided that it had been negligible and unavoidable.

The conclusion that Paradoxa was a simple one that was admittedly less reassuring than it might have been, the helmet which had been partially grafted to the specimens' skull had clearly been damaged in a way that had made it impossible to access the video feed from its' visor and whilst the fact that she was still mobile proved that she had likely won or at the very least escaped the battle in which the damage had been done this presented a further problem as; from what Gibil had been able to discern from the files plucked from the stasis pod the specimen had arrived in her connection to the Morphing Grid was a tenuous and somewhat unstable one, using no centralised nexus such as a Power Coin whilst simply channelling excessive amounts of power through the specimens' body to make up for the shortfall and such extensive damage to the cybernetic implants of her body would most likely cause some unwanted fluctuations and other unwanted side-effects.

Paradoxa's initial thought was that an effort to retrieve the specimen needed to be made as soon as possible, though she quickly paused and forced herself to re-examine that cause of action; her teleportation gate had only two uses remaining and spending them recovering her erstwhile assets would almost certainly be met with swift and horrific retribution from Lord Zedd. Furthermore sending ships to Edenoi would likewise present problems, it would take time for a retrieval operation to arrive and there was no guarantee that the specimen would still be functional by the time it did; if the mission were a failure she would be punished for wasting more ships and there was the undeniable knowledge that even if the mission was successful it would cost her, the knowledge that Paradoxa had launched a rescue mission seemingly to rescue a disgraced Captain after they had further failed her would be seen as a sign of weakness and all but invite treachery.

There was also the distinct possibility that Lord Zedd would punish her for any attempt to interfere with the testing of his new 'proof of concept' and the insectoid was forced to second guess herself before finally making her decision

"Stand by until further notice, monitor the specimens' readings and inform me of any further developments" Paradoxa ordered simply, rising from her throne and silently hoping that choosing to play a longer game and see what situation unfolded would benefit her. As she left the command bridge she heard her various underlings give their unanimous assent.

It would be a shame to have them all killed and replaced, but secrets had to be maintained.

Kimberley had for the second time in as many days found herself summoned to conference room one to join Vice-Admiral Dana Mitchell in the task of liaising with a representative of an ally from beyond planet Earth.

She had been in the middle of overseeing a marksmanship class involving a batch of Silver Guardian cadets aged around fourteen, her years using the Power Bow as the Pink Ranger seemed to have left a lasting impression on her and she was both capable of becoming a crack-shot with any ranged weapon she came across with very little practice and a more than competent judge of the abilities of others; when Dana's request for her immediate presence had come however she had quickly made notes of which of the teenagers, many of whom had an abundance of attitude would be suitable for additional training as snipers or heavy weapons specialists at a later date, which of them would require additional training due to either some flaw in the way they handled their weapons or a visible discomfort around them and finally which cadets should simply never be allowed within reach of a firearm under any circumstances and delegated to training session to TJ Johnson, the former Red Turbo Ranger and Blue Astro Ranger having acquired a plethora of skills over the course of his post-Ranger military career and departed for the conference room.

Upon entering she was once again surprised, though she supposed that she had no reason to be, to see the face of King Dex of Edenoi

"Kimberley, it seems once again that I am forced to call upon an old friend and ally for mediation" Kimberley entered the conference room and as the door sealed behind her with a hiss she saw the expressions of grave tension that both the, now snowy haired former Masked Rider and the former Lightspeed Pink Ranger wore in the expressions and the charged air of a stand-off that passed between then, traversing the light-years between them with ease.

"Kimberley my old friend I will ask you this-"

"No your Highness" Dana's words were terse and clipped "We will not be accused baselessly, you will tell us where the Power Rangers are and what is going on" Kimberley's eyebrows vanished beneath her hair, short as it was at the acid tone of the demand; clearly things had spiralled out of control somehow and the situation needed to be rectified. King Dex took several slow and deep breaths to calm himself, his hands clenching the arms of his throne in a white knuckled grip for several moments before he finally composed himself and explained the situation as he saw it.

"Your Power Rangers and my sons set out to locate and engage the Dark Empire element acting on Edenoi; a sapient and coherent enemy believed to be field commander of their operation was eliminated. Shortly afterwards the monster which uses your Morphing Grid attacked" there was a brief lull in the explanation and Kimberley asked a question which she feared the answer to

"Casualties?"

"None" Dex assured her "But there injuries and close calls. My middle son could have lost an eye, my youngest suffered a not inconsequential injury to his leg-"

"And the Rangers?" Dana asked stiffly, Dex's face shifted through several emotions finally settling on a forlorn mixture sorrow and shame

"The Red and Yellow Rangers" he sighed "Mercy and Aslaug….Aslaug refused medical treatment for her injuries and from my limited understanding of her people they are hardy enough that she will heal. Mercy is being treated by best medical staff, including one of my sons….after such a history of conflict as Edenoi has, our ability to repair punctured organs and torn muscles is enough to ensure that she will return to you whole"

"Then that's something" Kimberley breathed out "Thank you Dex, now can you explain to us what you believe the problem to be"

"The Pink Ranger" Dex stated bluntly "It would seem that the Dark Empire's new weapon is in fact her sister….a monster that uses your Rangers' own powers just so happens to be the long lost sibling of one of your Rangers; you see my suspicions I'm sure?"

"We do" Dana answered him, her tone making it clear that while she may understand the accusations being levelled against the Rangers and by extension, Project Lightspeed, Earth, the Alliance as a whole and herself personally, she resented them nonetheless

"Let me be clear" she continued "We had no knowledge of this, to the best of both Lightspeed and Panthera's own knowledge Acinonyx Cato was dead. The Power Rangers conducted a search of a Dark Empire vessel housing prisoners after the attack on Triforia and failed to locate her there; which corroborated information given by a Dark Empire officer….it seems that they were lying" there was a lot being left unsaid in that explanation and much of it would add additional context, Kimberley knew this but at the same time understood that telling their currently strained ally more than they needed to may not be for the best. As Dex stroked his chin and pondered however the former Pink Ranger found herself speaking up and offering her own thoughts

"It may be that Panthera's sister was chosen as a candidate for this weaponisation project of the Dark Empires' specifically for this reason" she offered "Panthera was known to the Dark Empire prior to joining us and has certainly been identified as a Ranger….using relatives in such a way to divide us seems like something that this new Dark Empire would attempt"

"It would be a question to raise with the former Lord Zedd but I'm sure you understand why I simply refuse to have a man such as that in my presence" Dex finally replied after several moments of silent and careful consideration "I apologise for my hastiness to appoint blame, but I'm sure you can understand my need for swift action"

"I can" Dana nodded in understanding, the tension between the pair finally lessening a fraction "Where are the Rangers currently?"

"Recuperating" Dex answered simply "Mercy will require treatment for a while longer though the Blue, Yellow and Black Rangers will be redeployed with my eldest two sons as soon as they are ready. This threat to Edenoi cannot go unanswered"

"And Panthera?" Dana asked cautiously "We would be happy to return to the Aquabase to avoid further complications" Kimberley could sense what the answer to her commanding officers' question would be before Dex spoke

"I'm afraid not….the Pink Ranger is in my custody, which is where she will remain until this matter is concluded" Dana's teeth audibly ground together and Kimberley was sure that were it physically possible she would drag King Dex through the screen but instead she forced herself to be diplomatic, knowing that things far larger than egos and personal feelings were at stake

"I understand. Please update us on the status of our joint mission when the Rangers return from their next deployment"

"As you wish Vice-Admiral, Kimberley" with a slight bow of the head Dex ended the transmission and the conference room remained deathly silent for a few seconds whilst Kimberley waited for the seemingly inevitable explosive outburst, to her surprise however it never came. Instead Dana simply let out a long sigh as she turned to her fellow former Pink Ranger

"You knew him long before I did….was he always like this?" Kimberley paused before smirking and allowing the biting sarcasm that she had once relied upon to bubble to the surface.

"Would you believe me if I told you that he's mellowed out?"

She had been held captive for several hours now,

Under normal circumstances being confined for so long in total solitude would have given Panthera enough time and a lack of distractions to have formed a workable plan of escape. The cell she had been placed in, deep within the bowels of the Royal Palace of Edenoi and the cliff which it was carved into was far from what could be considered ordinary and presented a rare challenge for her owing to the fact that it was utterly devoid of any advanced technology.

Edenoi it seemed, had never suffered from the ravaging plague of petty or organised crime that was common to much of the galaxy and had never needed to develop more involved methods of keeping prisoners secure, which in turn meant that her cell was entirely without cameras or any other form of digital monitoring and that there was no forcefield which could be damaged keeping her in place; instead simple bars of some dark metal with gaps far too narrow to slip through and far too sturdy for her to damage. The walls of the cells were sloped downed and comprised of a layer of some native stone so smooth that even with her sharpened claws and natural talent for both climbing and escapism she was utterly unable to scale them, the layer of stone was thick enough and applied in such a way that she couldn't break sections of it away which left the ventilation system that cycled air through the depths of the palace looming tauntingly above her, entirely out of reach.

To make matters worse she had been searched by members of King Dex's palace guard and whilst she had, mercifully been allowed to keep her own clothes the throwing knives, smoke bombs, lock-picking kit and various other useful items she carried had been found and taken from her along with her communicator which meant that the only tools currently at her disposal were her own wits and the heavy, sold metal handcuffs she had managed to slip out of soon after being confined.

She had, after all been raised in the Smugglers' Guild and had learned to escape handcuffs as a child when I had been taught to her as a game by and older crew-member who wished to use her and her sister to obtain some form of contraband or other.

Panthera quickly examined the restraints that she'd removed and found herself wondering if part of the handcuff could be inserted into the keyhole of her cells' lock and used to force the mechanism, when she had been placed in her cell she hadn't seen the key to the door and felt almost certain that even the narrowest part of the handcuff would be too wide for her needs, however before she could attempt to put her theory to the test the sound of footsteps echoing through the spotless but still dungeon-like corridor of otherwise empty cells, drawing closer until eventually and revealing themselves to be Prince Emu; the youngest of King Dex's children walking with a pronounced limp and carrying a tray which held some kind of food, though Panthera was privately more concerned with the utensils as they would most likely be useful in breaking free.

"You know, slipping out of your restraints in what might be a record time on Edenoi does nothing to help your case" Emu noted casually, even as his usually smiling and playful feature betrayed him nerves

"I was attacked by your brother and I'm the one in a cell because your father is the one making decisions; I only see one way this ends" Emu glowered for a moment, the open attack on his fathers' honour getting under his skin no matter how understandable it was considering Panthera's position.

"King Dex has spoken to Project Lightspeed on Earth" Emu informed her simply, choosing not to argue politics "You're to be kept confined for the moment"

"And you're just here delivering meals to prisoners as an act of charity?" Panthera raised a questioning eyebrow, her upbringing had taught her to read peoples' expressions well and Emu's poker face was simply laughable

"I'm a medic" he answered "Your helmet was already damaged when you came to our aid, you need to be checked for a concussion or any other lasting effects"

"And you chose to do that before having your leg looked at?"

"It'll heal" Emu assured her "Mercy's care took precedence"

"Is she-"

"Currently unconscious" Emu cut off the Pink Ranger's worried question "Our medicine works fast; she'll be ready to rejoin the fight within a day or so" Panthera visibly relaxed at the answer and Emu sat cross-legged on the other side of the cell door and managed to slide the tray of food under a small gap between it and the floor, Panthera sat facing him and made no effort to reach for the tray.

"I also thought you should know" Emu gave a heavy sigh "That my brothers' have taken the other Rangers to where they believe they will find the creature-"

"My sister" Panthera snapped "Say it, say that they're going to kill Acinonyx Cato, they're going to kill my sister. Use her name!" the bars of the cell-door rattled as Panthera lashed out and struck them, though the blow did nothing more then hurt her hand and leave deep purple blossoming beneath her teal skin where blood vessels had burst. Emu allowed her a few moments to regain her composure before speaking again

"When you arrived, when you spoke to….her, she paused" Emu leaned closer to the bars "Whatever she is or was she'd been overpowering us easily up until that point; she paused and then ran from you"

"If you're getting to a point…." Panthera seethed

"Just a question" Emu sighed again "Do you genuinely believe that there's enough left of your sister for her to be saved?" the answer came with utmost conviction and with a moments' delay

"Yes"

"Then there's only one course of action….I would do anything to save my brothers if they were in her situation" Emu reached into his clothing and Panthera's amber eyes widened, slitted pupils expanding as the young Prince produced both her Morpher and her communicator

"I understand you still have the coin?" Panthera nodded silently as she frantically took the proffered devices and slipped them into place on her wrists before removing her Power Coin from where she'd hidden it on her person

"SABRE BEAST!" a flash of magenta light filled her cell and as it dissipated she stood in her morphed state, the damage to her armour repaired.

"I can show you on a map where there heading" Emu offered as he unlocked her cell "Just promise me one thing"

"Anything" Emu gave a mischievous grinning

"That you'll use Sento's jet-bike….It's the fastest and I'm fond of mine"

The tension between the Rangers and Masked Riders was palpable and hung heavily in the air between them.

The sun had risen above the horizon, painting the sky a pale and hazy orange and Sento and Takeru were leading Tempestus, Aslaug and Rensa towards where they believed that they would find the monster that had stalked the surface of Edenoi, now revealed to be Panthera's missing elder sister. The five of them had taken another vehicle from the Royal Palaces' armoury which, despite the decades of peace that had reigned on the planet had remained well stocked and maintained. Their current transport was one that Sento had explained was once used for reconnaissance in the early days of Count Dregon's campaign against the world, when his armada had favoured ground attacks over simply scorching the earth from above. The vehicle was lightly armoured and open topped, propelling itself by the same gravity-defying methods that everything else on Edenoi seemed to use; its sleek and streamlined form vaguely reminding Tempestus of the profile of one of the fish from his home world. A single weapons platform rose from the back of the vehicle featuring a rotating turret armed with a double barrelled and high powered cannon of some kind with a slightly raised and armoured platform in which the gunner stood; currently Sento operated the weapons whilst Takeru piloted and the Power Rangers merely waited in an oppressive silence. All five of them were in their morphed and armoured states, knowing that Acinonyx or whatever she had become was more than capable of catching them unawares and preferred to stalk her opponents before attacking.

"We're coming up on our target" Ghost announced from in front of the others, his voice laden with apprehension

"Everyone be wary, remember the plan" Build instructed, equally tense. The eldest prince had examined maps of the areas in which the various encounters with both Acinonyx and the Dark Empire officer who could only have been her handler had taken place and deduced that the most suitable place for a lair or temporary base of operations would be within a network of caves and mines built into a nearby canyon; the plan was simply to seal as many entrances to the cave system as possible and whilst this would almost certainly not contain Acinonyx it would make her easier to corral and corner, allowing the Power Rangers and Masked Riders to overpower her.

"Just one question about this plan of yours" Aslaug growled, ignoring the soreness and occasional twinges of pain that shot through her body "When corner Panthera's sister….do you intend to take her alive"

"Absolutely not" Ghost spat, harsh and distasteful of the idea

"It's too risky" Build added

"We're the ones taking the risk" Tempestus countered "So it stands to reason that the decision lies with us….it's a risk I'm willing to take"

"Are you willing to risk that lives of every Edonian nearby?" the eldest Prince demanded "That's what is at risk"

"Then evacuate your settlements until she can be captured" the Yellow Ranger demanded "Acting like cowards because it's convenient is something I would expect of the Dark Empire, not our supposed allies" their was a moment of silence following the cold and venomous delivery of the challenge before Ghost spoke, voice trembling with fury

"This creature has killed Edonians, if it can't be reasoned with then it's a simple beast and needs to be put down; if it can then it's a murderer"

"Can you honestly tell me that you believe she's acting of her own free will?" Aslaug shot back

"The modifications that have been made to her body would suggest-" Tempestus fell silent as Rena, who had remained silent thus far raised a hand and rose from a sitting position to crouching on the edge of their transport as he scanned the horizon; Build saw the motion and brought the vehicles' weapons around, following the Black Ranger's gaze

"What? What do you-"

She struck them like a thunderbolt.

Acinonyx pounced onto the vehicle from the side, tearing the weapons away in a single fluid motion and kicking downwards as she leapt away with enough force to drive the side of their hovering transport into the ground; it flipped and both Sento and Rensa were thrown free and arced overhead before landing in crumpled heads. Aslaug and Tempestus quickly fought to regain both their bearings and senses as they ripped themselves free of the wreckage which had landed on top of them, just in time to watch Ghost charge towards the mutated and cybernetically enhanced Felidae

"OMEGA DRIVE, RIDER KICK!" he leapt into the air surged downwards, a blazing orange glow enveloping his lower leg.

Acinonyx caught him and flung him aside with ease.

Something had changed and Aslaug could only assume, with her extremely limited understanding of technology that was functionally indistinguishable to her people from magic that the removal of part of the aliens' helmet and made her unstable somehow; green lightning crackled across her mechanical components in writhing and serpentine bolts whilst an aura of the same colour glowed and pulsated ominously around her, blood tickled from her nostrils and eyes as well as the points where flesh and metal met, though none of it seemed to hinder her at all. Build and Rensa charged only to be laid low with ease as Acinonyx leapt into the air and kicked the Black Ranger in the chest with both feet, sending him crashing to the ground before knocking Sento to the ground some distance with a pair of blows that tore deep gouges into his armour.

"Acinonyx!" Aslaug roared as she charged, she hoped that the use of her name would bring the Felidae to her senses but she manifested her axe in a flash of golden yellow light regardless; Acinonyx turned and let out a snarl as she pounced once again and the Yellow Ranger acted on instinct, swinging her axe at her opponents' armoured chest. The blade of the weapon sunk into metal and as Aslaug turned, using the momentum to fling Acinonyx away a sizeable chunk of the armour encasing her torso was torn away, spilling blood and fluids across the dusty ground and the Felidae rose to her feet, throwin a few frantic blows at Tempestus who had been drawing closer Aslaug saw, with open revulsion that she could see into Acinonyx's chest cavity and that a device had been nestled within, seemingly untouched by the viscera around it and giving off an eldritch green glow.

"Be careful!" Sento ordered as he moved into position beside Aslaug, Rensa and Ghost moving into place in an attempt to surround their target. Aslaug turned to the eldest Prince and said, with a small flicker of hope

"I think we might be able to bring her down easily….but I don't know if she'll survive it"

Mercy had been drifting groggily in and out of consciousness as the medication that left her senses foggy and blunted fought against the pain and tightness in her chest until finally she pulled herself into an upright position.

The last several hours had been a blur and Mercy could only remember disconnected fragments of what had occurred; she knew that there had been no invasive surgeries involved in her treatment and had only brief recollection of her clothing being removed so that the wounds left by her attackers' claws could be closed and the sight of several tubes attached to her arm revealed that she was being administered more than one form of medicine, though how exactly it had managed to repair her damaged tissue was a mystery; Mercy felt heat rising in her cheeks and was instantly mortified as the memory of Aslaug all but throwing the Edonian medical staff out of her room for the sake of her modesty, the Yellow Ranger changing Mercy into the medical gown that she currently wore and tenderly cleaning the blood that had dried on her skin came to her, entirely unbidden.

"And I didn't even buy her dinner first" Mercy mumbled under her breath, suddenly grinning and unable to stop herself as a combination of both the medication and the sheer absurdity of the comment sent her into a fit of giggling.

The door of her room in whatever infirmary of medical wing within the Edonian Royal Palace she had been taken to being flung open with almost enough force to tear it from the hinges brought her hysterics to an abrupt halt.

"Where is she?" King Dex demanded in a booming voice that seemed to be amplified somehow as he stormed into the room, the gem set into his forehead crackling with some unknown magic and his eyes narrowed. Mercy cocked her head, struggling to clear the fuzziness from her mind and form a coherent response, her efforts being rewarded with a single word

"Huh?"

"Panthera, your Pink Ranger" Dex stepped closer, towering over her "She escaped custody and has stolen her Morpher and communicator, tell me what she's planning!"

"I don't know" Mercy managed to answer as she willed her mind to process the information she was receiving

"She's telling the truth" both Mercy and King Dex turned towards the sound of the voice, which was quickly revealed to Emu; the youngest of the Edonian Princes removing a pair of surgical gloves or something similar as he entered the room

"What?" King Dex turned towards his son slowly

"She didn't know that the Pink Ranger had escaped her cell, because she didn't escape" Emu met his fathers' eyes "I let her out" Dex stiffened and looked at him in shock

"Why would you do that?"

"Because it was the right thing to do" Emu replied without hesitation "Acinonyx, the Pink Ranger's sister….she's a victim of the Dark Empire, not their willing soldier. Panthera believes that she may be able to reason with her I think she should be allowed to try and besides, we've been overpowered in every encounter thus far; we needed a new approach"

"I see" Dex managed to reply after a few moments; the revelation that his son had gone behind his back the least of his concerns, in doing so Emu had proven himself to be the more compassionate and arguably the morally sound of the two of them; countless emotions played across the Kings' face as an existential crisis was distilled into a handful of seconds where he was forced to confront the fact that he had strayed from his grandfathers' teachings somewhere and had made choices more befitting of his Uncle Dregon.

"You made the right choice" he finally murmured, stepping away from Mercy and making to leave her room whilst adding "If this Acinonyx can be subdued peaceful then perhaps Lightspeed can see what exactly the Dark Empire have done with their stolen technology and unmake it, see that it can never be used again" Emu glanced nervously between his father and the Red Ranger before finally following after King Dex once Mercy had given him a nod of understanding.

The moment the pair was out of earshot she reached for communicator

"Panthera where the hell are you?" she demanded in a frantic hiss the moment the channel between them was opened

"I'm saving my sister" Panthera shot back, scathing tone implying that the answer should have been obvious "I need to catch up with the others….It's good to hear you though, things looked bad out there"

"King Dex knows you're gone, he knows Emu let you go-"

"Ah bollocks!" Panthera spat, the word being one she had become fond of after hearing it from a member of Lightspeed born in Britain and added to her galaxy-spanning repertoire of curses

"Listen!" Mercy insisted "He seems….okay about it, I think. He wants to hand your sister over to Lightspeed so-"

"So she can be experimented on!" Panthera interjected "No, not again! Never again….I'm getting her somewhere safe!" Mercy paused and considered, her next words would be considered treason if anyone on Earth ever learned of them but were the only choice she could make in good conscience, especially after Emu's freeing of Panthera

"Okay, how do I help" the Pink Ranger took a moment to answer

"Set your communicator to a restricted channel" she finally said "I need you to get in touch with someone for me"

Author's Notes:

Okay three chapters into the fifth arc, one more to go.
This one felt quieter even though there was still action in it but I suppose that's just the nature of this arc and the role it serves.
I'm planning on completing this arc next week, posting on the last Saturday of 2019 and then taking a break of maybe a week or so before starting the sixth arc….I've just been feeling a little burned out.
I don't have an exact end point for this story mapped out yet to be entirely honest, but with the nature of the sixth arc and the paradigm shift it will present I feel like it should serve as an end to the first act….So take that as me saying that this story will probably run for 60/70 or so chapters.
Also we've got some details about the new movie, the reboot of the reboot…..Speculation abound my friends.
Since we've got a full cross-over with Kamen/Masked Rider here and I've had the Ninja Turtles as background characters I wonder what other crossovers would make sense even if they were never canon….How do we all feel about VR Troopers or the Big Bad Beetleborgs showing up?

Anyway let's summarise shall we:
Starting off with cliché cinematography, because why the fuck not.
Of course one of the Riders took a swing at Panthera, of course it was Ghost.
The different approaches to getting around Build that Tempestus, Rensa and Aslaug had pretty much summed them up.
I mean, Takeru's position isn't exactly unreasonable….he's just a dick about it.
You ever had tech problems and felt like the damn thing was mocking you, yeah that exact feeling is what Paradoxa is dealing with.
So Paradoxa doesn't know for sure that Geryon is dead but it's safe to assume and she's got no way to accurately track Acinonyx or find out what's happening; she would have been able to look through her visor but Mercy cut it off last chapter.
With Count Dregon being from Edenoi would the war be counted as a civil war, even though his armada wasn't Edonian?
Okay and more of a revelation, Acinonyx had more power but it's unregulated and unstable….the idea was based on J Raine's take on the Psycho Rangers in his story Dirge.
Also remember…..Lord Zedd does have some Morphers and at least one Power Coin at his disposal.
Paradoxa's little conundrum there highlights the problems of all these evil empire style organisations; there really is no right answer that won't leave you open to being killed by someone on your own side.
And of course she's going to kill them all when the job's over.
Teenagers, many of whom had an abundance of attitude…..You know EXACTLY what I did there.
Again, Dex is not being unreasonable….from the outside we know what's going on but in his position you'd be paranoid as fuck.
Dana and Kim are having to do politics here and I can only imagine that they hate it.
Kim is right, Acinonyx was chosen at least partly because Paradoxa knew when she offered her to Lord Zedd that it would mess with the Rangers.
Also yeah, Dex just refuses to deal with Zebidiah.
In Dex's mind keeping Panthera locked up was probably the smart and safe thing to do, just stop her from interfering in a situation that she physically can't look at objectively.
Panthera grew up in the Smugglers' Guild….she can break her way into and out of any spaceship, space station or outpost she wants; but just throwing her in a hole with no electronic locks or monitoring is something she isn't used to.
Emu makes a solid point.
…..Panthera makes an equally solid point.
And in a shocking display of Cliche Panthera has been released by a guard with a conscience.
I just realised that it's been a while since any of the Rangers have actually called out their morph.
Yes she's stealing Sento's jet-bike.
Aslaug is taking no prisoners with her calling people out today.
As was alluded to earlier, with her helmet damaged Acinonyx's already unstable Morphing Grid connection is now fluctuating and she's having massive power spikes which or both slowly killing her and making her strong enough to snatch a Rider out of the air mid-rider kick.
…..Also the green aura is foreshadowing but shh.
Mercy is tripping balls on Edonian medicine and has her priorities in order lol.
Dex getting that "What have I become" moment….and then following it up by suggesting that Lightspeed could experiment on Acinonyx.
Panthera knowing swear words from all over the galaxy makes perfect sense….and someone taught her a new one.
I'm sure you can figure out who Panthera wants Mercy to contact….I already mentioned Panthera talking to them.

Thank you to Jen425 and Super ShadowHenshin for their reviews on the last chapter.
Okay, I may have told you….but everyone else probably figured it out as well.
It just made sense for the Riders to see blue skin and claws and immediately think "Nah, that's not right"
I honestly don't watch Kamen Rider so unfortunately I can't claim that the thematic irony was intentional.

As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.