Chapter Twelve:
The Blue Ranger
"Somebody tell me what's going on!"
Sean stood with Tammy, Katie, and the young captain in the base's hangar as General Kenpachi paced back and forth, shouting in his communicator. The captain was busy fiddling with the strange device on his wrist while Katie talked with the pair from the diner and a few other soldiers on getting the airship directly over their heads, which was apparently called the Hurricane, up in the air.
A new alarm sounded.
"What now?" the general said. He switched over the communicator's frequency. "What do you have for me?"
"There's a situation, sir," a woman's voice reported. "West Coast area near Stone Canyon."
"What is it?" he said. "What's going on?"
"We're not entirely sure, sir," the woman said, hesitating a bit. "It looks like a wildfire, but . . . It's like it's alive somehow."
"Can you get me a visual?" General Kenpachi asked.
"Coming up right now, sir."
The screen on the monitor nearby flashed to life, showing the landscape of the Pacific Northwest. A blazing fire was tearing its way through the mountains at almost inhuman speeds, a tiny point at the very front leading the way, igniting fires with every step it took and every tree it passed.
"Can we zoom in on that there?" Sean asked.
"Give me a second," Katie said. She stepped up to the console and tapped on it for a few seconds. The image zoomed in on what looked like a large humanoid figure entirely covered in flames, his skin completely undamaged. Sean scowled. "The Sun Mask," he said.
The young captain slammed his fist against the console. He tapped on his wrist some more, looking restless. "I've got to head out, general," he said.
General Kenpachi nodded. "Go. We'll follow in the Hurricane. Hayes and Young, you'll both be with me."
Katie and Tammy nodded. "Yes, sir."
Sean stepped up. "What about me, general? What can I do?"
You stay here," he said, looking him up and down. "You don't have clearance to be out in the field right now. And you're still recovering. Just hang tight, we'll deal with it."
Sean shook his head. "I can't do that, Commander. Doctor Kuchar's my friend, and the only reason he's out there right now is because I convinced him to come out of hiding. I can't just sit by knowing he's out there. I can help."
"And what exactly can you do right now?" Katie said, turning in her seat to face him. "Like the general said, you're in no shape to do anything right now, and you don't even have your enhancements anymore."
"What about knowledge?" Sean said, pointing at the screen. "I'm the only person who knows exactly what you're dealing with out there against a superhuman like him. Are you absolutely certain your Ranger suits can stand up to them?"
Katie chewed her lip. "The tests are still inconclusive at this time," she said, looking down. "We hadn't finished processing them yet."
Sean looked around at everyone there. "Please," he said. "I have to go help him. I will do whatever I have to."
General Kenpachi looked sympathetically, but didn't reply. The young captain held his finger over the device on his wrist. "I have to go, whatever you do," he said.
Tammy touched his arm. "Sean, please," she said. "We can handle this."
Sean looked at her. "I have to do this, Tammy," he said. "It's my responsibility."
Tammy opened her mouth to try and argue, but closed it again. Her eyes studied his face. She scowled and nodded. "I understand," she said.
She set her jaw and turned to face the general. "What about the second morpher?" she asked.
General Kenpachi's eyes widened. "What?" he said.
She held up the file she still carried. "You've already approved him," she said. "You believed he was worthy once."
"But then he was rejected, Tammy," Katie said.
"For reasons that have since been cleared. So?"
The general shook his head. "It's not that simple, Tammy," he said. "The committee needs to go through and evaluate him."
"Not necessarily," Tammy said, sorting through her pile of documents and pulling out a specific page. "You have emergency powers. The authority to give it temporarily to someone you trust in times of crisis." She gestured to the screen, where the Sun Mask leaped over a ravine and stopped to see Stone Canyon far below. "Is this not a time of crisis?"
The general looked at her, scanning her face. His eyes drifted to the screen as the Sun Mask leaped off the edge toward his target. He looked back at Sean for just a second. Finally, he breathed and looked down.
"I can't say I entirely trust him yet," he said. "But I do trust you." He looked Tammy square in the eye, holding her expression seriously. "Do you trust him."
Tammy's eyes lit up. She looked back at Sean, meeting his eyes for just a second before turning back to the general. "I do," she said.
The general nodded. "Then I do too," he said, making his decision. He crossed to a nearby console and punched in a code. A small box opened on the console to reveal a second device exactly like the one the captain wore on his wrist. He pulled it out and handed it to Tammy. "This will be on you if anything goes wrong," he said. "I just want you to understand that."
Tammy nodded, looking up at the general gratefully. "I understand, General."
General Kenpachi smiled. "Then I trust it to your care," he said.
Tammy grinned from ear to ear and rushed back to Sean, placing the device in his hand. "Use this," she said.
Sean stumbled back a bit. "But I—"
"You said it was your responsibility, right?" she said, cutting. "You want to find Doctor Kuchar? You want to stop the Sun Mask? This will give you that chance"
Sean stared at her, his mouth open, at a loss for what to say.
"Take it, Sean," she pressed further. "Be the hero you wanted to be back before all this happened."
Sean closed his mouth. He looked at her and she looked back at him. His hand closed around the morpher. "Thank you, Tammy," he said.
Tammy nodded. "Just be careful out there, okay."
She hesitated for just a second before leaning forward and kissing him on the lips. The kiss lasted for only a second, but for Sean it could have gone on forever. Finally, Tammy stepped back, her face red. She turned to join Katie and General Kenpachi. "Good luck," she said.
"You too," Sean said. He stepped back to join the young captain.
"You're the Red Ranger, right?" he said, turning to face him.
The captain nodded. "I am," he said. He glanced at Sean. "Though at the moment, I'd say you're a bit redder than I am."
Sean pulled his hat down and looked away.
The round-faced operative tapped General Kenpachi on the shoulder. "Sir," he said. "The Hurricane is ready."
"Alright," the general said. He nodded to Tammy and Katie. "Let's board up."
"Yes, sir," both said with a salute. The general saluted Sean and the captain and turned away as a small boarding ramp lowered. Tammy waved awkwardly at Sean as she followed him up.
"We've got to get out there," the captain said. He turned to Sean, holding up his wrist to indicate a large button in the middle. "Tap there to activate it," he said.
"Got it," Sean said, nodding. He watched the ramp to the Hurricane raise up again, took a breath, and pressed the button. In a split second, faster than he could ever process, a swarm of nanites spilled out, crawling quickly up and around his arm like a horde of tiny insects.
"What the—?" he said, trying to shake them off. The nanites worked their way up over his shoulder, down his chest, and around his back. A harness formed under the top layer, tightening up around his chest and arms. Gloves and boots formed, followed by a short cape hanging off his back. The nanites worked themselves up over his face, swallowing up his mouth, nose, eyes, and even his hat. He lost visibility for just a second before the visor formed, shaping around his eyes and giving him a heads-up display showing all kinds of information.
Finally, it was finished.
"Looking good," the Red Ranger said through a radio in his ear. He was now fully decked out in the red super suit Sean had seen a week before. Sean looked down at his hands and body in shock, going quickly to a nearby mirror. His suit was nearly identical to the Red Ranger's, except that it was bright blue and had two glowing power strips across the chest instead of one. The visor had a strange arrow shape to it instead of the rounded circular visor of Red's mask.
"Where's my hat?" Sean asked, glancing up at the top of his smooth, round helmet.
"Micro-compressed by the nanites," Red explained. "Just like your clothes. Don't worry. They'll all be as good as new once you take the suit off. Come on. Our exit's this way."
"I don't think I want my hat micro-compressed," Sean said, following him. The Red Ranger led him down a long runway toward a heavy hangar door, picking up speed as he did so. Sean ran after him, his reinforced legs carrying him about as fast as his enhancements had.
"Tap your side like this," the Red Ranger said in his ear. He tapped his belt with a specific hand movement, and a pair of small rocket boosters formed there, firing up and lifting him off the ground.
Sean watched the tiny little things lift his body for a second before tapping his own belt, mimicking his hand gesture. His stomach dropped out from beneath him as rockets formed and boosted him into the air. He scrambled for balance as they carried him forward, out the door and high into the air over Silver City. The city fell away before him as he climbed higher and higher. Far below, he saw the Hurricane rising into the sky behind them.
Sean steadied himself. The rockets seemed to be wired into his internal harness, keeping him steady for the most part. He just had to convince his brain not to panic. He straightened himself out, imagining it like the planes he used to train in back at the academy.
"Hey, not too bad," the Red Ranger said, flying up beside him. "You might make a pretty good ranger after all."
Sean tried to reply, but his stomach hadn't quite caught up with him yet.
"My name's Joshua, by the way," the Red Ranger said. "Joshua Cage. It's good to be working with you."
Sean swallowed. "Sean Cassidy," he managed to get out. "Good to be working with you too."
"Our destination should be lit up on your visor," he said, pointing to the north. "Let's go!"
He pointed his nose in that direction and Sean followed suit. The rockets sent them speeding through the air at speeds Sean imagined no human could ever withstand. Behind them, the Hurricane trailed, steadily falling further and further behind. "We'll be right behind you," Tammy said in his ear. "Let's take this guy down."
They flew for a while, longer than Sean was comfortable with considering the situation, but not as long as he expected. Soon, he could see the Pacific coastline on the horizon, a line of fire lighting up the foothills.
"There he is," Joshua said, slowing up and pointing to a tiny figure highlighted on their visors, currently tearing his way through a horde of EAGLE tanks and soldiers blocking his path.
"And there's Doctor Kuchar," Sean said, pointing at the other end of the spreading fire. The shape of the EAGLE caravan blinked to life on his visor, as well as a single faint life sign inside. "He's still alive! He's in there."
Joshua looked back and forth between the Sun Mask and the caravan. "Let's split up," he said. "I'll go after Sunshine and help out our troops, while you go get the doctor. Once you get him out, take him to the Hurricane. They'll be able to treat him there. Then come join me as fast as you can."
"Understood," Sean said.
"Break!"
The pair jetted off in opposite directions, Joshua to the north toward Stone Canyon, Sean to the south, closer to Angel Grove. Sean raced as fast as he could, blazing over the coastline and up over the mountains, keeping his eyes fixed firmly on the spot highlighted on his visor. After less than a minute, he spotted the caravan tucked into a ravine, surrounded by a thicket of burning trees nearly all reduced to ash.
He pulled up quickly and descended through the flames. They licked around him, but didn't do any damage. A massive gaping hole had been melted in the side of the caravan, probably by the Sun Mask on his way out. Sean dove through the ring of molten metal and into the cab. "Doctor Kuchar!" he shouted.
No answer.
He scanned with his visor and spotted Doctor Kuchar's body lying against one wall. He hurried over to him. The doctor was unconscious and covered in severe burns on his arms and face, but alive according to his visor's readouts. He pulled the doctor up and onto his shoulders, carrying him back out through the melted hole and into the thicket. "Hurricane, come in!" he called into his radio.
"We're here, Sean," Tammy's voice said. "We're just about to the coast."
"I've got Doctor Kuchar. He's alive but just barely. I'm bringing him up to you now."
"We'll be waiting."
He fired up his rockets again and readjusted the doctor on his back, taking off into the sky and back over the coast. The airship appeared on the horizon, the hatch on its belly already open to receive him. He flew inside, where he was greeted by Tammy and the pair from the diner.
"Nice suit," Tammy said as the pair took Doctor Kuchar from him and handed him off to a team of medics.
"We've got him," the frizzy-haired girl said. "He'll be safe now."
"Thank you," Sean nodded.
"Go on," Tammy said. "Hurry and help Joshua."
"Already on my way." Sean turned and dove from the hatch. His visor lit up, indicating both the Red Ranger and the Sun Mask several miles to the north. Sean pointed himself in that direction and took off like a bullet. He sped over the burning landscape, the airship trailing behind him. He glanced back to see it spraying a thick mist over the fire, dousing it as it flew.
Less than a minute later, Sean reached the edge of the city, where Joshua and the Sun Mask were duking it out one on one. Up close, the Sun Mask had barely any recognizable features left, just a vaguely human shape, glowing white hot as bright flames flickered off his body. Joshua was holding his own against him, zipping around quickly and nimbly as the Sun Mask threw burstss of fire at him. Sean stopped short, watching the fight. He was pretty sure he'd never been able to do that.
Joshua sped up close, lashing out and binding the Sun Mask with what looked like a high-tech whip. The Sun Mask strained at the whip, grabbing it and melting it down in his flaming hands, but Joshua simply pressed a button and collapsed it, instead falling back and grabbing at his waist where a firearm appeared in his hand. Aquila mimicked the motion, and, to his surprise, a gun appeared in his own hand as well.
"Nice," Sean said. He took aim at the Sun Mask, his visor lighting up targeting trajectories for him, and fired, striking him squarely in the chest two or three times.
The Sun Mask stumbled back, the blasts ricocheting off of him, and looked up. "Well, well," he said. "We have a blue one now. How cute. Mr. Cassidy, I presume?"
Sean landed next to Joshua and stood to face him. "That's far enough, Sun Mask," he said. He glanced at Joshua. "You alright?"
"Yeah, I'm good," Joshua said. "How's the doctor?"
"Alive. And safe."
"Good," Joshua said. He aimed his gun at the Sun Mask. "Now let's finish this guy." He held up his hand in a clenching motion in front of his visor. "Do this," he said. "It'll supply you a weapon."
As he spoke, his whip reappeared in his hand, clenched in such a way that it mirrored the shape of his visor. He whipped it out to its full length and charged the Sun Mask again, pelting him with lasers from his gun.
Sean stepped back and repeated the action. To his surprise, rather than a whip, a high-tech bow appeared in his hand. "Whoa," he said, pulling it away and looking it over. The bow was finely shaped and crafted, almost as good as the ones his pa used to carve back on the farm. He smiled. He could use this.
He fired up his rockets and fell back to give himself a nice vantage point. He took aim at the Sun Mask as he and the Red Ranger clashed, pulling back on the string as an arrow formed out of thin air. His targeting systems seemed specifically designed to work with the bow, as the displays pinpointed to the exact spot the arrow would hit, giving readouts indicating wind resistance and an estimated route a moving target might take before the arrow hit. He let the arrow fly.
The Sun Mask looked up as it sped toward him and dove aside, just barely managing to get out of its way in time. The arrow exploded the second it came within inches of him, throwing him to the ground and blowing out some of his fire.
The Sun Mask rolled back to his feet,shaking off the blast. Sean let another arrow fly, sniping him again and again. Each time, the Sun Mask dodged with expert precision and timing, rolling with the explosions and charging toward Sean. Sean lit up his rockets to get away from him, flying sideways to a new location. "He's too slippery for me to hit!" he shouted.
"I got him," Joshua shouted back. His whip lashed out and wrapped itself around the Sun Mask, yanking him back and holding him tightly for a few seconds. "I got him! Do it now!"
Sean fired another arrow straight into his chest. It didn't pierce too deep, but just enough to stick before exploding. The Sun Mask was blasted back, up and over Joshua and rolling down the hill. He rolled over, feeling the gash on his chest as it started to heal itself. He grabbed the whip binding him with both hands and pulled, yanking Joshua off his feet and pulling him toward him. The Sun Mask caught him by the throat in midair and slammed him to the ground, straddling him and clenching both hands around his helmet. Joshua struggled to throw him off, but the Sun Mask held firm.
Sean drew his bow and fired another arrow, striking him in the back this time, charging forward while it exploded and tackling him off of the Red Ranger. Both rolled down the hill, tumbling one over the other, before getting back to their feet and facing each other.
The Sun Mask laughed, rubbing his injured back. "This power is amazing, Mr. Cassidy," he said. "I can't believe you were ever foolish enough to give it up. Now all you can do is walk around in a suit and pretend at having power like this, like an egg just waiting to be cracked."
Sean drew his bow and planted his feet. "Give up, Sun Mask," he shouted. "You're outnumbered."
The Sun Mask glanced behind him for a second and grinned. "You know, the thing about that," he said, "you and your friend just left me wide open."
He turned and sprinted like lightning toward Stone Canyon, which he now had a clear shot at. "No!" Sean let his arrow fly. The Sun Mask expected it, leaping into the air over the arrow and riding the resulting explosion to propel himself farther.
"We've got to stop him," Joshua said.
"How? He's too strong."
Joshua thought for a moment. "I have an idea," he said. He tapped the side of his head. "Hurricane, come in! We need the bomb!"
Before Sean could ask what he meant, Joshua cupped his hands together and a large, silvery orb appeared within them. "This will do the trick," he said.
"What is it?" Sean asked.
"A high-powered nuke, designed specifically to take out a Ranger in case one of us went rogue. It's made of nanites programmed to contain the blast around the intended target with no damage to the surrounding area. The only trouble now is getting it to him."
Sean glanced at the fleeing Sun Mask. An idea occurred to him. "They're made of nanites, you say?"
"That's right."
Sean tapped the side of his head. "Hurricane, come in! I have an idea," he said. He looked at Joshua. "Let's go. I'll explain on the way."
Both rangers lit up their rockets and sped after the Sun Mask. The Sun Mask entered the city and started blasting fire at everything in sight, laughing maniacally as he did so.
Sean blazed past him and dropped down in front of him. "That's far enough, Sun Mask!"
Joshua dropped down onto the pavement behind him, boxing him in.
"It's ready, Sean," Tammy said in Sean's ear. "I've sent it down to you."
"Thanks, Tammy," he said. He pointed at the Sun Mask. "I'm going to put an end to this one way or another."
The Sun Mask spread his arms. "Go ahead and try it then."
Sean took a deep breath and charged, bringing out his bow and turning its sharp bladed edge toward the Sun Mask to use as a melee weapon. The Sun Mask caught it on his arm, the way Sean had so long ago against the Samurai Mask's katana. "Is that really the best you've?" he asked, clenching his fist around the weapon and setting the bow ablaze. He wrenched it from Sean's grasp and pushed him to the ground. "I am your superior in every way, powers or no powers. I have long since lost patience with your feeble flailing."
"What about mine?" Joshua said, lashing the whip around him and pulling him backwards.
"This again?" the Sun Mask said. "Remind me how this went the first two times?"
"Something like this," Sean said. He clenched his hand around his visor and his bow reformed. He then reached back like he was pulling an arrow from a quiver, and a large silvery arrow appeared there. He brought it around, strung it on the bow and fired it straight into the still-healing wound on the Sun Mask's chest.
"Blow it now!" he shouted.
The arrow detonated in a stunning blast of fire and heat. Sean's visor lit up, highlighting the swarm of nanites spinning around the blast and keeping it contained into a single pillar. The Sun Mask's face loomed angrily out of the fire for one brief second before letting out a scream of rage and his body was torn apart atom by atom.
After a few seconds the fire dissipated into the cool night air and the nanites dispersed. Not a trace of the Sun Mask remained. It was over.
Joshua stepped up to the tiny pockmark left behind and kicked a chunk of asphalt. "Well," he said. "I guess Elton John would be disappointed in us, eh?"
Sean tilted his head, getting to his feet. "Why would he be disappointed?"
Joshua looked down and rubbed the back of his helmet. "Never mind," he said. "Dayton would get it."
Strong winds blew overhead as the Hurricane came into view, spraying more of its mist over the remaining fires. "Come on," Joshua said, firing up his rockets. "Let's get back to our friends. Oh, and, welcome to the team."
Sean smiled.
A few days later, Sean sat with Tammy on board a regular EAGLE helicopter as it flew over a landscape of fields and pastures. Sean gazed out the window at it, a familiar, welcome sight he thought he'd never see again.
"Excited to see them again?" Tammy asked, nudging him gently as she scribbled down a note on her clipboard.
"Nervous, more like," Sean said. He leaned back in his seat. "The last they heard from me, they were told I'd defected to the Black Cross."
Tammy looked up at him, smiling sympathetically. "You've got nothing to worry about," she said. "We'll smooth this whole thing over. I'll bet they never believed it for a minute."
Sean smiled at her. "You're adorable, you know that?"
Tammy grinned. "So you tell me," she said. She tucked her pen in her ear and set her clipboard aside, taking his hand.
"Has there been any word from the committee yet?" he asked.
"Not yet," Tammy said, looking sideways at her clipboard. "But I'm sure they won't say no after your stellar performance in Stone Canyon."
Sean looked ahead and spotted a familiar farmhouse on the horizon. "There it is," he said.
The helicopter sped toward the farmhouse, blowing around his family's crops with its strong winds and coming to a landing in the long dirt driveway. A young girl in overalls, Sean's sister Madeleine, looked up at the chopper and dropped her hoe, rushing back to the house and shouting for her Ma and Pa.
Sean unbuckled himself and gathered his things, including his hat, which like Joshua had said, had come out just fine once he deactivated the suit. It didn't even have a single dent in it anywhere. He gripped Tammy's hand.
"You'll be right here with me?" he said.
Tammy smiled. "Always," she said.
A group of about eight people spilled out of the farmhouse's front door and joined the young girl. At the head were Sean's mother and father, both looking confused at the EAGLE helicopter that had just landed on their front lawn. Sean took a deep breath and pulled open the door, stepping out onto the grass he knew so well.