chapter 24:
In the next moment a shaft of light appears and when it disburses there stands Billy. "I made it, am I in time for the wedding?"
Of course, he didn't know about anything that had happened only moments before his arrival.
Rocky mutters why he couldn't have been here five minutes ago.
Billy looks at them and sees something severely wrong with his friends, "what the hell happened here?"
A gang of bandits has kidnapped Kim, they used sonic sound waves on us to disable us, Jason has been shot, and Dragon broke out and is now rampaging through the streets." says Aisha
"Okay, I don't know what I find more disturbing Kim kidnapped or Dragon going on a rampage in Metropolis." Billy sighs.
"Where is Kal-El?" Zara asks in worry.
"Over there!" says Aisha, "The light that those things were giving off created a sort of light cage with a greenish glow and it knocked him out."
Zara rushes over to him and she gives him a drink for speeding up his healing, "William check to make sure there isn't any exposed Kryptonite."
The moment Superman wakes up he is confused and asks, "what happened?" as he tries to sit up.
"Take a rest, Kal-el." Zara says, "you were exposed to Kryptonite."
"Where is Kimberly?" Superman didn't want to take a break. He had a feeling that something bad had happened.
"They got her, then dragon broke loose and went after them," Zack says.
"This is not good. This is not good at all. Tell me honestly, I never met this side of Tommy, how bad is this?" Superman asks worried about Kim but also for the city he had sworn to protect.
Through the pain, Jason says, "someone has to do something he'll kill those guys and won't care what collateral damage it takes to do it."
Trini says, "It's like Jason said, he'll kill those guys and won't care what collateral damage it takes to do it." Billy adds, "she right he was the only one that came close to not just beating us but utterly destroying us."
"Don't worry, Kal-El, I brought the bracelet that will keep him under your control," Zara says.
"Superman you can't go after him alone. You are still not full power." Adam says. He was worried about what Dragon would do and Tommy would never get over that guilt.
"Take one of us with you," says Rocky.
"It should be me," says Jason as he tries to get up but can't, "I'm the one that beat him last time."
"Jason, Dragon will kill you in this state." Trini says in worry before Zack adds, "Jase, you can't even stand you're not going to be any use."
"It has to be someone he knows, I owe it to him." Jason says through the pain." "Then let it be me." Says Trini, "maybe I can talk to him."
"I can't let you do that, Trini. You know very well how dangerous he is. I am the only one besides Kim who can bring Tommy back." Jason answers stubbornly.
"You've been shot! You're not going anywhere. He knows me I will go. You stay here and let them try to save your leg!" His wife responds a bit agitated.
"When we get her back if you have wheeled her down the aisle cause you lost your leg she'll be pissed at you. I'm going to end the argument here," she says.
Jason groans but he knew his wife was right. He would be useless at the moment, "fine maybe you can reach Tommy within."
"Are you ready to fly Trini?" Superman asks
Trini nods before she orders, "Billy stay here and help the others, especially Jason."
"Here is the bracelet, Kal-El. It should work immediately once it is around the man's wrist." Zara says while giving the bracelet to Superman, "I'm sorry we didn't get here in time to stop it, but may you get it on him in time, to avoid any loss of life. Don't worry we will tend to the wounded here."
Superman nodded before he lifted Trini in bridal style in his arms, "We don't have any time to lose." Trini held the box tightly into her hands afraid to lose the bracelet.
He takes off and flies in the direction Trini saw Dragon leave in.
Look for the streak of green." says Trini.
They don't have to fly for long before they see a green blur chasing a gray windowless panel van that is speeding through the streets. "I think we found him," Superman says to Trini.
They see him about to grab at the bumper of the van.
"I know it's better to stop him before he kills anyone, but if that's the van that Kim is in, maybe we should let him stop it first, this way we solve two problems at once," Trini says, she was a bit in conflict with herself. She knew how dangerous Dragon was but also she wanted her best friend back so badly.
"What if it isn't? Are you willing to risk the lives of the people inside it? Even if she is in there if he causes an accident it could endanger her even further." He responds.
"I know you are right, Superman but I want my friend back so badly." Trini sighs
"We will get them both back but first things first, we need to get this bracelet around his arm," Superman responds with an equal sigh.
"You're right," she says. Although it was a hard choice to make.
He flies down and puts Trini down in an alley, "I'll be right back." Superman says before he disappears.
He flies out and manages to grab Dragon before he can grab the van, knocking him away. In such a blur that not even Dragon knows what hit him. There is a loud crash and dust cloud coming from the alley indicating an impact. Then there was a loud angry growl that came from Dragon.
He storms off towards Superman and hits the hero straight in the face, "Why did you do that for? I nearly had them." Dragon growls
"What you were about to do would have jeopardized her life just as much as the people in the van. Would you be able to live with yourself? If you had done that and then what? She wouldn't want you to kill anyone. You know that!" Superman says.
Dragon's left hand seems to grow lengthy, deadly sharp talons from his fingertips and he swipes out at Superman's chest causing sparks to fly, as well as unmistakable metal on metal screeching sound.
"You stopped me from getting her back, you're as much the enemy as they are," says dragon venom and rage dripping from his voice. He throws another punch but this time Superman is able to use his speed to dodge it.
The fight that ensues is almost too quick for the human eye to follow, but there are enough sounds of metal straining, and masonry breaking around them along with shouts of rage to be heard and is proof enough that a fight was happening, as well as the visual damage being left in its wake.
He pulls a metal pole carrying a sign out of the ground and twists it around Dragon. Enough to hold him but not to let him get away again.
Dragon bucks and struggles trying to use his body weight to slam him out of the way. Superman's weight was too much to move even with what little power Dragon actually had.
"Stop struggling and listen for once in your life," Trini said with a confident voice. A feeling she wasn't actually feeling but she knew she couldn't be vulnerable with Dragon.
He paid her little attention, but even with the pole wrapped around him, he managed to pull off one of Tommy's corkscrew kicks and hit Superman square in the chest. The kick and the burst of green energy that accompanied it caused the man of steel to be knocked back against the brick wall on the other side of the alley, leaving that wall with a few cracks in it.
"Okay, that it, no more Mr. nice guy! " says Superman. He pushes off the wall and over to Dragon, using his heat vision to cut some of the nearby chain-link fencings and wraps him up in that metal chain-link gate to embolize him completely. Only his wrists sticking out. Dragon thrashes around like a caged animal, in frustrated rage. His howls are piercing as he snarls and growls like a rabid animal.
The impotent threats he throws out are brushed off as Superman asks Trini, "Do you have the bracelet, Trini?"
Trini nodded, "Yeah, right here."
"Okay, we can do this the easy way or the hard way, Dragon. Either way, this bracelet is getting on and you will have to do everything I tell you." Superman says, "Are you willing to let Tommy out?"
"No he is weak he let her be taken. Obviously, I am the only one that can get the job done! " snarled Dragon.
Superman sighs at this.
"He knew she was under threat, he should have taken her away from here right away," says Dragon.
"I will do anything within my power to find her, Dragon. You have my word but violence and pointing fingers aren't the answer right now." Superman says. Letting Dragon feel that although he reacted this way, he understood Dragon's point of view, "Luthor would have chased you all over the world. They wanted to end the situation."
"They knew as former rangers that this was not a fight they could have run from. It had to be dealt with" said Trini.
"You all failed, only I have the will to do what needs to be done. Where were you, Mr. Hero? Why didn't you stop her from being taken?" Dragon asks blaming the man of steel most of all.
"So you are saying that you don't have a weak spot? I mean what's to fear about this bracelet then?" Superman challenged him in return
"I am saying that I am the only one who will not flinch away from what needs to be done, no matter how dirty the job is," says dragon.
"You underestimate your opponent, Dragon." Superman replied short, "in doing so you will fail, don't risk her life that way."
"You know Tommy is the only way to track her now, through the falcon," says Trini.
Superman rolled his eyes, "I am tired of this. Every second we waste Kimberly is in more danger. It will be the hard way." Superman took the bracelet and clicked it around Dragon's wrist. He closed it with his fingerprint so that the device knew the person who placed it was Kryptonian.
Once having done just that, there is a blinding flash of light, some of the green has receded a bit. Instead of the suit, Dragon was back to the normal clothes even if they are still green and the eyes are still glowing brightly.
Dragon demands, "what have you done to me?" Having felt some of the power he had a moment to go being taken from him, knowing he's not fully in control but also knows it's not falcon or Tommy who took it for him but a strange outside force.
"I have control now it's for your safety and the safety of my town," says Superman in a commanding voice. The kind the other rangers would call the leader's voice, "We are going to save Kim but we are going to do it my way." Superman says sternly.
"You don't get it, do you. You need a monster to fight a monster." Dragon says as he still has some fight in him but not as much as before cause he can feel the weight of Superman's control of him.
"You don't have to be a monster to defeat him. Because that is what he will expect or do you think he doesn't know your transformation yet?" Superman replies
"No one outside the rangers knows of me. I am their dirty little secret, the fact that their fearless leader, their legendary ranger isn't quite the paragon of good they think he is." Dragon scoffs
"What are you going to do, break down the city?" Superman asks agitated
"If I have to. As long as I get to her, she is all that matters." Dragon says
"I can't let you do that. I want to find her as much as you do but I have a responsibility towards Metropolis. You know what I mean deep inside you know I need to think of the innocent people. Superman says softly.
"she is the light in the darkness, she does not fear me. She is the only one. She is what made him who he is. I would have made her my dark queen if Tommy hadn't stopped me repeatedly." Dragon says with a smirk of evil on his face.
"We all would have fought to stop you," says Trini.
"The others were never that much of a threat to me," says dragon, with still a smirk on his face.
"I understand that part, Dragon. I moved Heaven and Hell to safe Lois but I never broke down the city and I always found her," says Superman.
" When Tommy was free she was the one that kept us all together. I had no problem serving her over Rita." Dragon growls, "It's bad enough I have to share her with Tommy and his falcon. I will not share her with anyone else."
"Dragon has always been hard to reason with," Trini says.
"Okay Dragon we will make a deal you can come with me but I am in command and don't think about removing the bracelet only I can," Superman says just as he tried and got a nasty shock from it.
"Dragon every moment we waste here with you we are not helping her. You have to let Tommy out until we need you." Trini says.
Superman stands in front of him with his arms across his chest.
and Dragon says, "fine but only for her, cause falcon only answers to him, and he needs to use him to find her now." He closes his eyes and you see the rest of the green disappear and his clothes go back to normal and when his eyes open it's Tommy, who has no idea of what just happened.
Superman removes the fenced prison, and the pole he wrapped around him. "let's find your crane, shall we? Trini I want you to come too because Luthor has a nasty habit of using kryptonite. I need someone more reliable, no offense Tommy to remove it. It is only poison for me not for humans."
"I understand." Tommy says, "How did we get here? What did he do?" He looks to the bracelet, "what's this?"
"This is the bracelet Zara was talking about I now have control over Dragon when he appears again. Only I can remove it but I won't. It's important not to break down the city in finding Kim. You will understand Tommy that I also have a responsibility towards the city. Superman explains
Tommy nods, "We know what that's like just like when we were rangers the lives of the civilians over our own."
"Indeed I always managed to save Lois from Luthor and damn it, I will save Kim too. I really know what you are going through. He almost managed to marry her." Superman replies.
Tommy nods, "I understand more than Dragon does. She wouldn't want the world she fought hard to protect destroyed for her."
"And one other thing if Dragon manages to fight me again, I won't be so nice next time." Superman quips.
Tommy nods and says, "thanks for not breaking my body. I guess it's time to press the panic button.
"Oh, I"m sure the others already took care of that by now," Trini responds
Tommy smirks and says to superman, "you ready to have your city flooded by rangers?"
TBC