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Chapter 23 – Cross My Line
"My god!" the words left Vice Admiral Dana Mitchell in an astonished and dismayed whisper which broke the heavy and tense silence that had filled the Command Centre. Dana had arrived only moments ago, returning to the Aquabase after abruptly cutting short a meeting regarding public relations and had been appraised of the situation by Mission Control and Kimberley, Zebidiah and Justin now stood beside her in sombre silence as she took in the sight of burning and destroyed buildings within her own city; years of peace and safety shattered for the second time in a matter of mere days.
Far more harrowing than the attack itself however, was the apparent culprit
"You're all sure of what you saw?"
"For the final time yes!" Zebidiah snapped, voice distorting and sending tremors through the floor in his agitation
"Readings confirm it" Justin informed her morosely "They were definitely using the Morphing Grid"
"We don't need readings for God's sake" Kimberley gave an exasperated sigh "We saw them, they were wearing a Ranger suit, they had a Morpher….they were using Tommy's-the Green Power Coin" Any shred of hope that there had been some mistake was robbed from Dana with those words and the former Lightspeed Ranger was forced to confront the fact that the absolute worst case scenario had occurred and that now the only choice that remained to her was how to proceed.
"Where are the Rangers?" she asked after a few moments of silent contemplation
"Assisting emergency services; entering buildings to ensure that nobody was stranded inside, supporting structurally compromised buildings so that-"
"Bring them in" Kimberley was quickly interrupted by the woman who was both her successor and superior officer; though Dana's harsh tone softened a little as she added "Send Eric, the Quantum Ranger has a knack for co-ordinating these kind of relief efforts"
"Understood, I'll contact him now" Kimberley nodded before making her way out of Justin's workspace and nodding to the former Blue Turbo Ranger as she did so, prompting him act
"Rangers" he announced into the microphone of the headset he wore "Prepare to teleport, we're bringing you back to base; inform emergency services that they'll receive additional assistance as soon as possible" after entering a few more commands Justin turned away from his desk towards where the Rangers would arrive. Dana followed his gaze as a group of brightly coloured streams of light announced their teleportation, quickly followed by smoke and the smell of burning rushing outwards from the epicentre of their teleport streams.
"Good lord" Dana gasped as she took in the sight of the Rangers; all of them wore armour that had been scorched, scuffed and gouged in countless places and all of their helmets were either cracked or partially collapsed in some way; save for the Red Ranger whose helmet had been ripped almost entirely in half, leaving her ashen and soot covered face and curls of hair that had been singed when the Green Ranger's hand and ripped through her helmet on display; the details serving only to highlight the seriousness of the situation to Dana.
"Vice Admiral" Mercy snapped off a salute, though everything about the movement and her body language as a whole spoke of utter exhaustion
"At ease" the moment the words left her lips the Command Centre was filled with a second display of lights as the Rangers powered down, their suits seemingly shattering and dissipating into countless glowing fragments like multicoloured fireflies which flickered out of existence in a matter of seconds.
"We need an immediate debriefing" Dana stated without further preamble "Priority one is eliminating that Ranger we don't have time to-"
"You mean find" Panthera's low and husky voice had a dangerous edge to it as she interrupted
"You mean find the Green Ranger?" she repeated, her amber eyes silently pleading Dana to amend her statement "We already know that the Dark Empire use mind control-"
"Cato, this isn't about your sister" Dana's voice was firm and offered no compromise yet Panthera persisted and spat out a truly vile curse in a language that the sub-dermal translators worn by almost every citizen of the Alliance needed a moment to comprehend
"How is it any different?" she demanded furiously, voice raising with every word "Maybe I expected a little too much from you, I mean I'm just a smuggler I'm nobody right? Lightspeed and the Alliance shoot people like me evert day just as much as the Empire does but I thought we were supposed to be the good guys in this fight!-"
"And that means making the hard choices and sometimes doing things that are unconscionable to save others" Dana replied coldly "Believe me when I tell you that I do not enjoy giving a kill order for a Power Ranger but the Dark Empire cannot be allowed to have that kind of-"
"Do you hear yourself?" the Pink Ranger gave a howling laugh that held no mirth, only a bottomless well of contempt "Why go to all the effort of teaching your history if you won't learn anything from it? If it had been your decision then Tommy Oliver would have been killed rather than allowed to join the Rangers and Earth would never have been warned about the Empire! I'm glad I kept Acinonyx away from this place-"
"You're letting your personal matters cloud your judgement Cato" Dana warned, her eyes narrowed and fists clenched as her patience was pushed to its' limits
"Yeah maybe I am; but take your brothers' Morpher off before you act like I'm the problem here!" both Justin and Zebidiah subtly shifted their weight and prepared to tackled Dana to the ground or separate her from Panthera, whilst Mercy stepped protectively in front of her friend as it seemed for the briefest moment that her final barb would be enough to provoke the older woman to lunge at her.
It didn't happen and Panthera quickly slipped her communicator from her wrist and pressed it into Mercy's palm before exiting Justin's workspace with nobody daring to even attempt to halt her.
The room seemed to be entirely airless and Dana's head pounded, her own pulse ringing in her ears as she struggled to regain some semblance of composure After what felt like an eternity Mercy spoke up, the faint wavering of her nervous tone offset by the way she squared her shoulders and straightened her back
"Permission to speak freely Vice Admiral?"
"Granted"
"The Green Ranger is a threat and I understand your concerns; if it comes to it then I'll do what I have to save people…..but I agree with Panthera, this just seems wrong" she exhaled slowly and voiced an opinion that had occurred to her after the haze of the battle had subsided "I don't think any Power Ranger is truly evil….I don't think they can be. We'll report to Captain Hart for debriefing" with that Mercy turned on her heel and left, taking Rensa and Aslaug with her faster than Dana could order them to stay behind; the Yellow Ranger silently shaking her head in apparent disgust whilst the Black Ranger merely let out a low, sibilant hiss. It took Dana a moment to realise that Tempestus has remained behind and was gazing at her with what could only be described as a profound sadness
"It's not the Aquitian way to publicly speak out against ones' elders like that" he lamented, voice bubbling as always "But when in the history of Power Rangers has one Ranger murdered another?" the question hung in the air and Dana could think of no answers beyond truly despicable acts committed by traitors such as Trek of Xybria, which the Blue Ranger seemed to guess as he added
"I ask you to mindful of what you become….what you ask us to become….Earth has a saying about those who fight monsters does it not?" without waiting for an answer he left, presumably to rejoin the other Aegis Rangers whilst Dana stood in silent shock
"Did….did an entire team of Rangers just walk out on you because they can't stand to look at you?" Justin breathed out in what was clearly awed disbelief "Is that treason, or insubordination at the very least?"
"Can you blame them?" Zebidiah snarled before turning to Dana, his voice laced with a level of scorn that eclipsed even Panthera's insults as he offered a parting jibe of his own
"I can certainly see why you were never a Red Ranger"
"You sure you don't wanna take the night off?"
"I'll be fine" Kay's answered without hesitation, though their voice was laced with utter exhaustion and the occasional hiss of pain escaped them caused by the tightness in their heavily bruised chest which restricted their movements slightly.
The sun had long since set and the as yet undiscovered Green Ranger had returned to Piggy's branch of Ernie's Juice Bar after several hours, the police presence that had cordoned off the area for much of the late afternoon and early evening had provided a reason for their absence which Piggy saw no reason to question, whilst they had explained the bruises marring their torso that had been left by the Yellow Ranger and her axe as the result of minor accident involving a motorcyclist in the panic that the attack had caused, thought they didn't feel that they needed a trip to the hospital which was certain to be overwhelmed at the moment anyway. After the joy of finding the teen he had taken into his care alive and relatively unharmed Piggy had turned his focus towards helping the community he was a part of in their time of need and as such Ernie's Juice Bar was currently crowded long after normal business hours had ended and any illegitimate business that the alien may have wished to conduct had been cancelled so that table could be pushed aside and replaced with sleeping bags as the business was transformed into a makeshift shelter for those whose homes had been destroyed in the Green Ranger's attack or were currently unable to return home. It was not however Piggy that had enquired if Kay was fit to continue working; Jack Landors and Elizabeth Delgado had surprised their former foster parent by arriving with their squad-mates and offering any services they could, informing him that since the bar was acting as a shelter Lightspeed had insisted on providing a security detail which Jack and Z had naturally nominated themselves for.
"Suit yourself kid" Jack shrugged, eyeing Kay a cautiously as he passed them and unable to shake the suspicions he had regarding this new comer that had arrived seemingly at the perfect moment to take advantage of Piggy's good nature.
"They took out a squad of Putties in hand to hand, pretty sure bruises won't bother 'em" Z noted, before lowering her voice to a playful stage whisper "Don't tell Syd but I think Kay might be tougher than her" the comment earned a bout of laughter from those who knew Sydney Drew, despite her unassuming appearance the blonde was the undisputed muscle of the team Jack led and often sparred with Aslaug in the Aquabases' gym.
"It must be that physiology" Jack noted "Where'd you say your parents are from again Kay?" a deathly silence fell over the room
"Jack what the hell?" Bridge demanded, it was bad enough that his friend had deliberately called attention to Kay's mixed heritage; an act that was considered impolite if not outright offensive to most people, but to mention their parents knowing full well that Kay was an orphan like Jack himself was uncalled for and Bridge, along with the rest of Jack's friends were looking at their squad-leader wondering what he was thinking.
Right up until Piggy began to swat him furiously with a rolled up newspaper, hitting his head, shoulders and anywhere else he could reach
"Boy have you forgotten your manners on that base? I raised you better than that! Just what do you think…." the furious questions continued as Jack merely protected himself from the barrage of admittedly painless blows and the entirety of the juice bar erupted into laughter at his misfortune, the fact that Kay had made no attempt to answer the question going entirely unnoticed.
"We're sorry about him" Sydney murmured
"We'll talk to him later, I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it" Sky added as the two of them made themselves useful and began distributing hot meals that had been prepared by the members of Piggy's staff who were currently working in the kitchen; namely an alien whose name human tongues could simply not pronounce who resembled a bizarre fusion of slug and squid with an oddly human torso, their many tentacles and eyes allowing them to cook several meals at once with ease and 'Rusty' a heavily modified and repurposed Quantron which Piggy had purchased in a less than legal auction and intended to use as bartender, though that particular plan had been abandoned after the machine had been shot and otherwise assaulted by several patrons acting on instinct at the sight of it.
"Anyone else get a bad vibe all of a sudden?" Bridge asked as he leaned against the bar close to where Z and Kay were taking orders from customers; the seemingly innocuous comment was enough to get Z's attention and she raised a questioning eyebrow only to receive a non-committal shrug in return. It had been discovered a few years ago that many of Bridge's 'lucky guesses' and 'gut feelings' were in fact limited precognition and clairvoyance; the first manifestations of his latent arcane abilities which once discovered had led to the teen working alongside Zebidiah Lord and other similar gifted individuals to hone and expand his magical powers, thus far however progress had been limited and whilst Bridge could often sense something was about to occur his insights rarely offered any specifics.
Then the sound of a roaring engine filled the air, coming to a halt outside of the building and was followed moments later by the door being flung open as Panthera Cato stalked inside
"Long day?" Kay questioned with a faintly amused note to their voice as the Pink Ranger made her way to the bar, prompting Z and Bridge to exchange worried glances between the pair; Panthera was often discussed in wary and hushed whispers within the Aquabase where she was known for being often quick to anger and vicious in her responses, more so than even Rensa with his poisonous bite, the fact the teal-skinned alien already looked aggravated and drummed her clawed fingers against the bar hard enough to chip its' surface did not bode well in their minds
"Oh you have no idea" Panthera let out a long sigh of frustration before chuckling bitterly as she added "Management are ass-holes, same everywhere though right….what's a galaxy-wide threat on top of that"
"Don't tell me Lightspeed isn't all it's cracked up to be" Kay rolled their distinctive black and pink eyes before adding in a much quieter voice "I haven't told Piggy yet but I was actually thinking about joining….I mean after today I think your Aquitian friend is right, you need all the help you can get" Bridge and Z were close enough that they heard the comment and Bridge was overcome by the sudden urge to intervene before Kay could say something that would result in them being on the wrong end of Panthera's claws; Z held him back with an amused smirk on her face as she decided that she wanted to see how this played out.
"Cute" Panthera shot back with an eye-roll of her own "Gonna offer me a drink….I need something that burns on the way down"
"Well we have hot-sauce and that's about it" Kay answered innocently "This isn't that kind of bar"
"Bullshit it's not" Panthera sneered "I've been here and-" Z interrupted by loudly clearing her throat and the Pink Ranger understood; Piggy did not have a liquor license and would not be serving alcohol whilst the authorities were so prevalent in the area, just in case a police officer or member of Lightspeed decided that they had nothing better to do than question him.
"Whatever" Panthera eventually sighed
"There's other bars" Kay noted with obviously feigned boredom, causing both the Pink Ranger and Z and Bridge to perform hasty double-takes
"Oh they're gonna die" Z breathed out under her breath, more than one cadet at the Aquabase had attempted to flirt with Panthera and there hadn't been a single instance where it had ended well; yet both Z and Bridge were left speechless as she leaned forwards, her face mere inches from Kay's and her tail swishing lazily behind her
"So are you asking me out or just kicking me out?"
"I'll leave that decision up to you" Kay shrugged calmly "But I was offered the night off….so if you can think of somewhere better for me to be tonight?"
"Cute" Panthera repeated before gesturing to the door and turning to leave, Kay removed his apron and quickly hopped over the bar before following Panthera out of the building and leaving both Z and Bridge in utter shock
"Did….did that just happen?" Z demanded, Bridge turned to her wearing an almost reverent expression
"Z your new foster sibling is gonna go far, y'know that right?"
"Damn it where is she, why the hell did she take her communicator off just to make a point to the Vice Admiral, what if she's….ugh!" Mercy threw herself down onto the sofa in the living area that the Aegis Rangers each shared with an annoyed huff.
Panthera hadn't returned and the Red Ranger was beginning to grow concerned.
"Don't worry about her" Aslaug murmured as she made her away around the sofa; the two of them were currently alone, with Tempestus having sought out somewhere quiet to meditate in peace and Rensa in a remedial study session intended to offset the stunted academic skills that being raised on a prison world had left him with.
"We don't know where she is and she can't reach us if she's in trouble" Mercy pointed out as she made room for Aslaug to sit beside her; the Yellow Ranger noted that the red vest Mercy wore had ridden up when she flopped onto the sofa enough to reveal that her light brown skin was still mottled with ugly yellowed bruises from her brief battle with Paradoxa days earlier, her broken ribs had been mended yet it seemed that she was not yet fully healed; Aslaug currently sported a prominent purple bruise above her right eye where her helmet had failed to entirely absorb the impact of being flung through a wall by the Green Ranger.
"If the Green Ranger had attacked again we would have been sent to face them and she still her Morpher" Aslaug countered "The only other threats in this city are the kind of criminals that she seems to seek out for her own enjoyment"
"Fair" Mercy breathed out, still clearly unhappy with the situation "But what if-"
"Mercy, Lightspeed knows everything that occurs in this city; we may have given Panthera the privacy that she wants but they've most likely been watching her since the moment she left" there was a hint of distaste in Aslaug's words that the Red Ranger couldn't help but notice
"You think they'd do that?" she asked quietly, privately hoping that some of the individuals that she had come to trust amongst the organisations' upper echelons; individuals such as Doctor Stewart would refuse such an order if it were given.
"Is spying on a Ranger worse than killing one?" Aslaug countered and Mercy fell silent before asking a question that they had all been too tired to entertain the night before after their debriefing had sapped what little energy they had left
"You're not okay with this either are you? Killing the Green Ranger?"
"Mercy single combat between warriors is a way of life for my people; I've led armies for my father, my Jarl before and you know this….but no, something about this seems wrong" Aslaug's icy blue eyes met Mercy's as she added "I promised that I would follow wherever you lead Mercy, but be sure you do this for the right reasons and not just you were told to by someone who used to be a warrior"
"I don't want to kill another Power Ranger, I don't" Mercy sighed, burying her face in her hands "But they're here, on Earth and people have died already….we can't trade one life for hundreds or thousands….but what if they're like Panthera's sister and aren't doing this of their own free will; killing them would be like shooting a hostage or a prisoner, we don't do that"
"Heavy is the head that wears the crown" Aslaug noted gently "But you wear it well"
"Thanks" Mercy mumbled as she picked herself up enough to slump into the taller girls' shoulder. Aslaug absently wrapped an arm around her waist only to pull back as a hiss of discomfort escaped Mercy when the Yellow Ranger's arm pressed against her bruises
"You're hurt-" Aslaug fell silent as Mercy shifted her weight and pulled herself up onto her knees so that her face was level with hers
"Thank you for being here for me, I don't know what I'd do without you Aslaug" Mercy rested her forehead against the taller girls and gently wrapped her arms across Aslaug's broad and powerful shoulders, feeling her muscles shift as Aslaug's hands came up to her hips and held them gently; Mercy pulled back a just enough to see Aslaug's face, deep brown eyes might icy blue and her mouth opened as she tried to speak but realised that she couldn't find the words and instead slowly moved closer again and time seemed to slow to a crawl.
And then the door was flung open, sending Mercy leaping off of the sofa to stand awkwardly as she tried not to appear guilty
"Was I interrupting?" Panthera asked with a smirk as she sauntered in to the room, her words were followed by the sound of Aslaug's knuckles cracking ominously
"Where the hell have you been?" Mercy demanded "We've been worried about you!"
"I can see that" Panthera snorted "I needed to be away from this base for a while, I would have ended throttled somebody in a uniform….I would have been here sooner but I had to show Kay where to go"
"Kay?" Mercy was utterly confused at this point
"I spent last night with them….No not like that" the Pink Ranger silenced Mercy's comment before it could come and added "I needed something to take my mind off of things and they got off work, we went for drinks and ended up breaking into the amusement park….the roller-coasters actually have really good views of the city if you climb them"
"I'm….I'm not even going to try and explain to you what is wrong with what you just said" Mercy buried her head in her hands again, this time from pure exasperation
"You said Kay is here?" Aslaug asked
"Yeah, they want to join Lightspeed….turns out what Tempestus said along with meeting Jack and Z gave them the push to sign up, so we might see them around"
"Oh Piggy is not gonna be happy about this" Mercy breathed "Go get some sleep, I'll let Captain Hart know you're back on base and try and deal with whatever trouble you're in" Panthera nodded and sidled towards her room, stopping before she reached the door and turning to Mercy
"Hey Red….thanks, for being worried….It's been a while since anyone was" the Red Ranger simply nodded silently as she produced the Pink Ranger's communicator and threw it to her; she didn't have the words to respond to that comment at present.
A moment later Aslaug and Mercy were alone again and a profoundly awkward silence hung in the air for a moment before both young women seemed to decided in unison that they would address what had almost happened between them at a later date
"That was….unexpected" Aslaug noted gruffly
"I know right" Mercy gasped, nervous and almost hysterical laughter escaping her as she tried to make sense of things "I can't believe that Panthera….knife throwing, Han-Solo with fur, bad-ass Panthera went on a date!"
Mercy planned to tease her mercilessly, revenge would be sweet.
'Just look as though you belong and nobody bats an eyelid' Kay marvelled to themselves as they prowled through the Aquabase.
Upon leaving Piggy's bar with the Pink Ranger, for there was no question that was who Panthera was when her Morpher was worn so clearly on her arm and they had heard her speak whilst Morphed, Kay had initially planned to kill her the moment that they were alone but had found themselves faltering at almost every opportunity.
They could have seized the handlebars of Panthera's bike from behind and caused her to swerve into traffic, Kay was almost certain that they would survive the resulting crash; they could have Morphed and attacked the moment they were alone, one Ranger was far less of a threat than five after all or even simply hurled her from the top of the roller-coaster that the two of them had scaled to admire the view but each time they had found themselves halted by some inexplicable feeling in their belly.
Kay had spent hours justifying it to themselves as a strategic choice, rationalising their failure to dispose of the Pink Ranger as a purely strategic choice; a missing or dead Ranger would heighten security and send the Aquabase into a panicked frenzy after all and they were sure that their sudden presence here in such circumstances would be treated with far more suspicion.
They were all excuses however, Kay knew that the truth of the matter was that they hadn't killed Panthera because they simply hadn't wanted to and the Green Ranger had no idea what that meant.
"Perhaps I'm getting soft, perhaps I should kill Piggy before I can be weakened further….he's a bad influence" Kay dismissed the notion as soon as they voiced it, the idea of harming the alien who had taken them in and given them food and shelter out of simple kindness for no reason other than to protect their own intrinsic ruthlessness was not something the Green Ranger could stomach and so they banished the thought from their mind and continued with the task at hand.
They were here to infiltrate and Panthera had unwittingly given them the perfect opportunity to do so; upon arriving at the Aquabase and declaring that they wished to join the Silver Guardian Cadets Kay had been given a small mountain of paperwork to complete, fortunately the vast stockpiles of information that had been forcefully entered into their mind as they were incubated and rapidly aged included several languages, including English and they didn't raise any awkward questions by being illiterate. Kay did however raise the issue of their lack of a family, the cover story that they had been given prompted the administrators to apologise profusely and remove much of the paperwork stating that orphans and wards of the state were always inducted and given a home and training; they had then been given several uniforms, toiletries and other such items and told that they would be assigned to a cadet group as soon as possible. Kay had used the excuse of looking for a bathroom to slip out of view and change into one of their new sets of grey fatigues and begin searching the base; slipping the Morpher that they had never worn in front of anyone onto their wrist in case of emergency.
Members of Project Lightspeed, including security staff continued to ignore Kay as they made their way deeper into the Aquabase; teenagers were a common sight here and their current clothing made them all but invisible to scrutiny, whilst the fact that several aliens were either employed directly by the Aquabase, transferred or visited here from other Lightspeed branches or had other business that brought them here made even the Green Ranger's distinctly inhuman features were unremarkable. After almost fifteen minutes Kay came to a door with a sign next to it the room behind it as a conference area and peering through the small window they saw that the room was both empty and featured a large holographic projection which displayed Earth, along with the orbital defences and colony ships around it and the small fleet which stood ready to defend the planet at a moments' notice; the door slid open with a hiss as Kay leaned against it at they hurriedly made their way inside and searched for whatever computer system was feeding live information into the hologram projector, they found it in a corner of the room at a small desk away from the central table that took up most of the room and quickly broke part of the outer casing away and winced at the sound the action made.
Then they reached into one of their new boots and produced something that they had tucked their to keep safe; Lord Zedd knew that Paradoxa and her human asset Ivan Komarov had failed to fully breach the Aquabase with a sentient virus and so he had equipped his Green Ranger with something more subtle, the robot unfurled itself from a single metallic mass barely the size of a fingernail into a many-limbed and skittering thing which leapt into the computers' inner workings and quickly set about the task of integrating itself. Satisfied that their work was done and all that remained now was to decide whether they intended to flee the Aquabase or continue to integrate themselves Kay turned away from the computer.
Just as Zen-Aku entered the conference room.
"You shouldn't be in here" the Wolf Org growled as he stepped closer
"I'm sorry, I'm new here and I got lost" they answered simply, giving what was technically an honest answer though it made literal difference as they saw fierce yellow eyes narrow in suspicion as Zen-Aku stared directly at the Morpher adorning Kay's wrist; a rough looking thing formed by the forced melding of components taken from the Morphers of at least half a dozen fallen warriors
"I know the stench of corruption when I smell it whelp" Zen-Aku's low snarl reverberated in their chest "And you reek of it" there was a single moment of serene stillness; an instant stretched out for an eternity where both of them knew what was to come but neither moved.
Then Zen-Aku attacked
"CRESCENT WAVE!" the Org's obsidian glaive manifested in their hand as they leapt onto the desk and slashed, sending an arc of coruscating light across the room which Kay avoided with preternatural reflexes as they leapt onto the table at such an angle that the attack passed over their head before they righted themselves. Without hesitation Kay rushed towards Zen-Aku, sprinting across the table as if to tackle him only to drop to their knees and use the smooth surface to slide beneath another wide slash of the Crescent Blade and drive their elbow into the Org's gut, forcing him back a single step before rising to their feet once more and seizing Zen-Aku by the shoulders as they brought their knee crashing into his chest and following up with a pair of punishing punches to the face. Zen-Aku however weathered the blows with ease and Kay learned, as many Silver Guardian cadets before them had that the Org was far more resilient than a mere human, Acheron hybrid or not; a firm backhand left Kay reeling though before they could stagger backwards they were seized roughly by the scruff of the neck and thrown forcefully at an adjacent wall.
Zen-Aku's sense of satisfaction was short lived as they watched Kay collide with the wall only to, in an impressive display of strength and agility use it as a springboard to launch themselves back onto the table and into a low spinning sweep aimed at the Org's legs; Zen-Aku leapt over the attack with ease and stabbed downward with his weapon which he was pleased to hear draw a soft exclamation of pain from his opponent, Kay was far from beaten however and rolled off of the desk as Zen-Aku landed and promptly used their weight to flip the piece of furniture over; sending the Wolf Org collapsing backwards and crashing into the opposite wall.
"Let's make this interesting shall we" Kay panted out breathlessly, wiping blood away from the shallow cut that the Crescent Blade had scored on their left cheek, the crimson liquid dripping onto the floor even as the wounded flesh began to stitch itself back together at an accelerated rate. Zen-Aku knew what would happen next and that there was nothing he could do to stop it, alarms blared in the distance meaning that someone had heard the commotion their battle had caused and that help was on the way however, giving the Org a small sliver of hope which he struggled not to lose as Kay Spoke
"Dragonzord!" in a flash of forest green light the engulfed the teen and clad them in the armour of the Green Ranger
"I didn't have to kill you" they informed him, seeming to genuinely lament the actions that they were about to take "But you shouldn't have attacked me" Zen-Aku merely snarled and kicked the table across the room, hoping to catch the Green Ranger off-guard as they leapt over it only for them to simply barge through it, their own weapon manifesting in their right hand and promptly being put to use, green sparks filled the air as the Dragon Blade clashed against Zen-Aku's glaive.
"You don't have to do this" the Org snarled as they fought, blocking and parrying blows at impossible speeds
"This is what I was made for" Kay answered simply
"As was I" Zen-Aku countered before bringing their armoured snout crashing into the Green Ranger's helmet with enough force to crack their visor "Be better" he followed up by unleashing his signature Crescent Wave attack with a roar of exertion and hurling his opponent back, Kay rolled to a stop in a crouch and a quick glance downward revealed a deep, diagonal gouge had been torn into the shield that covered their chest; black smoke billowing from the damage whilst its' edges glowed red hot. Zen-Aku offered no quarter and charged, knowing that if the Green Ranger would not stand down then they would have to be laid low; Kay saw this and sprung forwards with the Dragon Blade at the ready and time once again seemed to slow to a crawl, a flick of the wrist brought the Crescent Blade to bare but the blow intended for the Green Ranger's neck was knocked aside by a blow to the arm, clawed fingers scratched thin gouges into Kay's helmet as they closed the distance and finally Zen-Aku's fierce yellow eyes grew wide and then grew dim as the Green Ranger's sword pierced his chest and emerged from his back.
The alarms seemed to be miles away, fading into the distance as Kay watched his fallen opponents' body collapse to the ground with a dull thud; a haze of a dark substance akin to spores and pollen seeping from the wound that had pierced his heart. There a few moments where the Green Ranger stared at Zen-Aku's body, frozen in place as if shocked by what they had done until reality imposed itself upon them once again.
"NO!" an anguished scream from behind them caused Kay to turn around, revealing that the help Zen-Aku had been holding out for had arrived a moment too late
"Cousin" the distorted modulation returned to their voice as they nodded to the Red Aegis Ranger before turning to the Pink Ranger "Panthera"
"You monster" Mercy's katana appeared in her hand in a flash of crimson and Kay was convinced that if she were allowed to attack it would be another fight to death; something the Green Ranger was not sure if they wanted.
"Unfortunately our confrontation will have to wait" Mercy charged with a scream of pure rage and hatred and Kay's weapon vanished as they gathered their power into a single point; unleashing it in the same attack they had used to counter the Power Blaster
"GET DOWN!" Aslaug roared as she tackled Mercy to the ground a moment before the beam of searing light tore through the space she had occupied.
"Zen-Aku, Zen-Aku no" Mercy's words were rendered near incomprehensible by her sobbing as she crawled through the remains of the now devastated conference room towards the Org who had been a teacher and mentor to her.
The fact that the Green Ranger had once again escaped momentarily unimportant to her even as alarms and sirens continued to blare.
Lord Zedd stood beneath Acheron's sky, the clouds which blotted out the worlds' sun twisting and configuring themselves into nightmarish shapes as though the dreadful magic that filled the very air had given them life whilst lightning bolts of unnatural colours ripped through the sky, their flashes reflected in the warlords' armour as he surveyed his great work.
He had left his palace, truly a fortified city in its' own right and travelled beyond the vast metropolis, slums and shanty towns that surrounded the seat of his and the Empire as wholes' power and stretched out as far as the eye could see; venturing out into a desolate wasteland which for millennia each successive Lord Zedd had refused to allow anything to be built upon.
It was a vast desert covered with a fine, sand like material which swirled about in the fierce winds but was packed so densely underfoot that it formed a solid surface to walk upon several meters above the ground and in its' centre, surrounded by half buried temples whose existence had been consigned to myth by the people of Acheron was a single crater both wide and deep enough for Earths' moon to be contained within. This was the site of the creation of the first Putties, long before the current method of binding the souls of captured mages to a Dread Forge and raising legions of automatons had been devised Lord Zedd, the first Lord Zedd whose name all who came after had taken had used their own blood and magic to take the Acheron ability to fuse with and spawn hybrids from any living thing and extend it to the blasted rock upon which they stood; giving rise to an unthinking horde which conquered and united the planet, laying the foundations of the Dark Empire
Lord Zedd had done away with tradition and used the site as a secret base of operations, somewhere to work upon plans that he dare not allow even his most trusted general to know of before they came into fruition; though if he were to indulge in theatrics and posturing the warlord would certainly admit that his choice of location made a twisted kind of sense. His Green Ranger would destroy the enemies of the Empire in their entirety and see them expand into all corners of the universe without opposition until nothing else remained; it was oddly fitting that the Dark Empire's advance would begin and end in the same crater.
He stood alone, not even his customary retinue of Obsidian Putties following him as he drew close to a huge construction site within the base of the crater; those who worked here knew that they would never leave alive yet had each gladly and fanatically given their lives in the knowledge that they would be known as the heroes who had helped deliver a final victory and that their statues would stand upon a thousand worlds.
What had been built thus far was a huge skeletal structure held aloft by scaffolding and support struts which reached skywards, the area was floodlit as what little light reached the crater was blotted out by vast mechanical wings which had been splayed wide.
"Did Thrax build this in your honour father?" Lord Zedd's echoing snarl was softer than any of his general would have believed possible as he gazed upon the creation. The tyrant would never admit that he had initially had reservations about his plans, he was Lord Zedd after all, his will was absolute; yet the doubts had remained.
He knew that each and every Ranger corrupted and swayed from their natural inclinations to defend life had eventually broken free of whatever shackles had been put upon them and so had sought to create an Acheron hybrid capable of using the Power to simply create a Ranger in their entirety rather than simply recruit one; even in achieving this there had been complications as Lord Zedd had been forced to use less and less Acheron genetic material in order to create a being whose very appearance would not raise alarms within the Alliance, diluting his vision until it was questionable if anything truly remained of it. Those doubts had been assuaged when Kay, as they had renamed themselves had informed him that they had engaged the Rangers and that the plan was proceeding, confirming that the teen was Acheron after all despite how much humanity seemed to have seeped into their being.
As if summoned by Lord Zedd's thoughts the tyrant became aware that the Green Ranger was contacting him and promptly opened a holographic channel
"My Lord" the Green Ranger panted out as their flickering image came into view, inclining their head but failing to pay proper respects and bow
"Report" Lord Zedd rumbled, allowing them leniency that few could expect and focusing on the matter at hand; the current condition of the Green Ranger's armour made it clear that things were progressing sooner than expected
"The Pink Ranger provided me with a pretext to enter their Aquabase, the plan is progressing but time is of the essence….I was discovered before I could escape"
"You have done well Kay" Lord Zedd almost purred with satisfaction "Soon our enemies will fall, you will have the means to destroy their seat of power and raze the city that it guards"
"Why?" Kay asked, the distortion leaving their voice and revealing a hint of sadness "All those people, they aren't our enemies it seems….wasteful"
the snarl that escaped Lord Zedd shook the ground beneath him and his armoured gauntlets creaked as his fists clenched; he hoped that this was merely the Acheron instinct to consume making itself known yet something told him it may be the beginnings of something far more problematic and that the Green Ranger would have to be watched and that they may need to be unmade and replaced in the future
"You grow reckless Kai" he warned "Do not believe that I favour you so much I would let you question my plans….Earth must burn if we are ever to have victory. Proceed with the plan"
Lord Zedd could feel the Green Ranger's eyes boring into his even beneath their cracked visor and felt something akin to pride at the teens' spirit before they finally answered
"As you command….Father"
Mission control was in utter disarray as alarms continued to blare throughout the Aquabase
"I want the Aquabase locked down! Nobody gets in or out until we find that bastard!" Dana ordered before rounding on Kimberley "Where are the Rangers?"
"Mercy refused to leave Zen-Aku's body" the former Pink Ranger answered "She's currently in Doctor Manx's surgery"
"The Yellow Ranger took the Blue and Pink Rangers with her and began organising search parties; naturally if the Green Ranger is still on base whoever finds them will need back up" Zebidiah added, voice unsettlingly calm "The Black Ranger stated that he hunts better alone before disabling the lighting in a subsection of the base and taking off"
"Good" the Vice Admiral bit out "All power and life support controls have been isolated and entry points have been sealed, teleportation has been jammed; whatever it is they're looking for-"
A realisation hit Dana with enough force to stop her in her tracks
"They're not here" she declared in a fragile voice "Why would they teleport out just to reappear somewhere else in the Aquabase….we're playing into their hands and we don't even know what their plan is. Justin do we have footage from the conference room?"
"I've been a little busy making sure that subsection is structurally stable!" the scientist shot back before turning his attention to the task he had been given, swiftly accessing the camera within the room where the Green Ranger and Zen-Aku had fought and searching for the moments before the Org had arrived
"I don't recognise them" Kimberley noted "They're not one of our cadets even if they are wearing the uniform"
"Wait look at that-OH SHIT!" Justin declared "They're in our system, God damn it who knows what they've hacked already!" the former Turbo Ranger's fingers danced across his keyboard as he began searching for any traces of interference left by the machine that the Green Ranger had dropped into the computer; the footage continued on whilst he worked until Zebidiah spoke up
"Zen-Aku at least made them bleed….get me that blood and I'll find them"
"Whatever that bug's doing it isn't directly damaging us" Justin noted tersely and Dana knew that however reassuring that sentiment sounded it was almost certainly too good to be true and that something far worse was about to happen.
Her fears were borne out as a new alarm began to scream its' warning in the Command Centre
"Another attack in the city!" Kimberley informed them "Something just dropped into our airspace!"
"How?" Dana demanded
"The Dark Empire are using their Teleportation Gate again?" Zebidiah suggested
"This close to our jamming area?" Kimberley gasped, fearing that the Dark Empires' technical abilities had advanced beyond their expectations.
"Worse, they don't need to" Justin informed them as he turned away from the screens of his workstation wearing a terrified expression "The Power brought it straight here...the same way it would for any of ours"
"Oh no" Kimberley breathed out as comprehension dawned on her and she, along with Zebidiah and Dana crowded around Justin's computers and were horrified by the sight that greeted them.
"Fighters are being scrambled and tanks are moving into position" Justin informed them
"They're all going to die" Zebidiah answered simply
What had been summoned to Mariner Bay's airspace was roughly the size of the Aegis Megazord, though its' massive wingspan and the long, segmented tail that trailed behind it made it seem far larger. A gargantuan construct of black, bright silver and deep forest green which greatly resembled the machine it had clearly been based upon yet, in addition to possessing wings was far sleeker and streamlined in appearance than its' predecessor as though it had been inspired by the design of the Aegis Zords in the way that the Green Ranger mirrored their counterparts armour and it seemed to be constructed in a way that suggested that it was designed to move on four limbs rather than two when on the ground.
The Dragonzord had returned in all its' terrifying glory.
Authors Notes:
Yes I know, I am the bastard king of cliffhangers.
Halfway into this arc and things are getting nice and spicy; three chapters left before we move into the second act of the story.
Also….Power Rangers Unworthy episode three drops on Monday 27th of January, go subscribe to Unworthy Productions on Youtube and treat yourself, you deserve it.
Anyway let's summarise:
So we're starting of anywhere between a few minutes to hours after the last chapter ended.
I think "Evil Ranger" definitely counts as worst case scenario.
I feel like Eric would actually be well suited to taking charge of those kind of jobs.
Yeah the Rangers got pretty scuffed up in that fight.
Panthera when she was first introduced would have shot a Ranger in the face point blank and now she's the voice of restraint; that's what we call growth.
I had to remind myself that all of the characters can understand each other, not because "English is a universal language" but because they've all got Star Trek style translators implanted under their skin….so whenever Panthera starts swearing in alien languages people can still understand her.
"The Alliance shoot people like me evert day just as much as the Empire does but I thought we were supposed to be the good guys in this fight!" - No punches pulled, Panthera came out and told 'em exactly how she felt.
We can argue about Dana having a point (I think my readers who watch RWBY can see that she's going a bit Ironwood here) and sacrificing the few to save the many, especially if 'The few' is an enemy fighter; but at the same time look at who the Power Rangers have saved rather than killed in the past….hell Zebidiah is literally the ex-Lord Zedd and he's part of Mission Control. Dana is a hypocrite and it isn't wrong to call it out.
"Take your brothers' Morpher off"….Now that one was below the belt.
I know my fans of gritty realism think Mercy is being immature here, but this is Power Rangers and well…..Tommy (More than once) Karone, Ryan, Merrick & Zen-Aku, Hunter, Blake, Trent and Zebidiah in this story. Did I miss anyone?
You know you fucked up when Tempestus has to check you.
And Zebidiah getting the last dig in because yeah, he knows that under Dana's current orders he would have been shot.
Aslaug definitely fucked Kay's ribs up even through his armour with that last hit she got in.
The panic caused in these attacks gives you an excuse for pretty much everything if you can lie fluently enough.
Okay so we're not gonna be doing that thing that happened for a few seasons where, by one plot device or another all of the Rangers have super powers when they're not Morphed; so in this story Bridge can do all of his aura and precognition stuff but it's because he has latent magical abilities and Syd is genuinely just that strong, she doesn't need to turn her hands into iron.
I'm sorry but someone had to suspicious of Kay and Jack drew short straw, although he probably just thinks that Kay's trying to rob the juice bar or something….Besides, Piggy swatting someone with a rolled up news paper amused me.
I felt like doing some little world-building and reminding people that Piggy definitely does still do under the table business; so he has an old savaged and definitely not legal repurposed Quantron….Also it's a callback to that repurposed Cog from the first arc.
Panthera showing up sets off Bridge's spider sense….partly as a vague advance warning of what was going to come, but also just because well, cadets on the Aquabase are probably scared of her.
"Management are ass-holes, same everywhere though right….what's a galaxy-wide threat on top of that" can I get an amen.
And that's how the infiltration starts, with a little friendly banter.
Okay before anyone complains at me that I'm rushing things with Kay and Panthera I want to point out that our Pink Ranger is an utter gremlin, she's teasing them and you all know it….her flirting looks a like a cat batting around something it's playing with.
But I love that Bridge and Z were just watching it unfold in pure terror/on the edge of their seats with popcorn.
Kay just casually hopping over that bar like it's nothing again just to subtly show that he's got a bit more muscle than the average person.
Mercy totally waited up for Panthera all night to give her the "Where have you been young lady" routine….despite actually being the younger of the two of them.
Yeah sci-fi medicine to keep the plot moving and not have characters bedridden for chapters at a time is great….But Mercy still got her ribs smashed; that's gonna leave a mark.
Lightspeed can and does spy on the Rangers, they've been shown doing it.
Just a reminder that Aslaug joined Lightspeed for the adventure and she's following Mercy, not Dana.
Anyone who's read any of my other writing knew that I was gonna interrupt that scene and was probably counting down to it in their heads.
"No not like that"
Breaking into an amusement park is exactly the kind of date Panthera would go on and you know it.
So….who panicked when they heard Kay was on the base.
Ah the awkwardness.
Kay enjoyed fighting the Rangers but doesn't seem to want to kill them and is genuinely fond of Piggy….Could be whatever mental conditioning he was given in his stasis-pod is wearing off, could be that actual social interaction is good for people, who knows.
Yeah keep telling yourself that Kay, you might believe it one day buddy.
So, Kay may or may not have the same translator thingy as the other Rangers; he might actually just know that many languages.
And that's why nobody saw Kay's Morpher….because smarter than the average bear and keeps it in his pocket when it isn't Morphing time.
So, Kay dropped a robot into the Aquabase computer system to do "Something"
I think you all knew that Zen-Aku was in trouble the moment he walked into the room.
The unmorphed section of the fight was very loosely based on the table fight from IP Man and is also a callback to chapter one when Mercy and Zen-Aku sparred.
Add accelerated healing onto the list of freaky Acheron hybrid shit that Kay can do.
First time we've actually seen Kay Morph and confirmed that his roll call is actually "Dragonzord".
"Be better" yeah that's totally not gonna be repeated back to him or reused in a different context later on.
The spores and pollen thing….in my head it makes sense considering the way that the Orgs used seeds to grow and Master Org's backstory.
"Cousin" one of my readers has figured it out, they private messaged me and guessed what the deal with Mercy is.
Well that's gonna fuck up team cohesion down the line.
Acheron has had so much dark magic done on and to it that the atmosphere is almost alive with it….it's also not all the result of the Acheron people as well, they did have a war with Eltar after all.
Felt like I needed to do a little bit more world-building around Acheron here to not make our big bad and the Empire they lead seem to faceless and generic.
Yeah Acheron is massive, they have a moon sized crater that's just there in the desert somewhere.
You knew it was gonna be a Zord, surely you knew it was gonna be a Zord?
"Did Thrax build this in your honour father?" the first time we've actually heard this Lord Zedd acknowledge his brother.
I mean Lord Zedd is right to have doubts about his plan, but as was mentioned Kay is technically a different case.
So Kay is a hybrid, but it's not like it's 50/50 which is why he's a lot less imposing than say Paradoxa with her extra arms tucked away, or Corax who was taller than anyone even when he was hunched over.
The last person to not bow was Ivan….how did that end?
Acheron hybridise and colonise anything they come across, which is what Lord is thinking/hoping Kay's comments about destroying Mariner Bay being wasteful are.
"Father"….here you go, have a Darth Vader type moment because it makes sense to me that if Lord Zedd was creating an Acheron hybrid who could become a Power Ranger the only Acheron donor to even be considered would be himself, gotta carry on that dynasty after all.
Also, this makes Zebidiah Kay's Grandpa.
Took Dana a second but she got it, Kay's not on base any more.
So Justin is gonna try and counter whatever Kay's little robot does and Zebidiah is gonna have a blood sample to work with….which means the Rangers might actually get off the back foot.
Never trust good news, alarms will start ringing.
Paradoxa's teleportation gate is out of juice remember, that was just a blind guess.
Remember how the Aegis Rangers summoned their Zords to them on Triforia, despite the fact they weren't actually finished at the time time….Kay just did the exact same thing with the Dragonzord.
So my Dragonzord has wings and actually looks like y'know….A Dragon instead of Mecha-Godzilla.
However fighters and tanks have been deployed so you'll be getting Godzilla/Evangelion references next chapter anyway.
Also, a little teaser for next chapter because I can't help myself….Remember that Princess Shayla has the Animarium ready to provide backup should the situation call for it.
Thank you to Super ShadowHenshin for their review on the last chapter.
I'm glad you're enjoying Kay so far, as you can see I've got plenty more left to do with them.
The Unworthy Green Ranger is pretty iconic and expands on what made the original great
As always thank you to everyone that reads this, with a special thanks to those of you that follow, favourite and review.