It's true that I may not like kids a whole lot, but give me an animal and I'll be a happy camper. So when I bumped into Leo and Damon on my way back home after work, I knew I had to tag along with them to see Maya at the ranch.
"Maya's amazing," Damon comments as we walk up to the brunette, "She's just got a way with animals."
"Hey!" She greets us, and I can't help the little squeal that escapes my mouth at the sight of the horses. "Perfect timing. I need another person to help exercise that horse."
"I'd offer if I wasn't drained from work," I reply, offering her an apologetic smile, and Maya shakes her head. Despite her no-nonsense, take-no-bs attitude, she's also incredibly understanding and compassionate, "but these guys are so cute. May I?" The Yellow Ranger nods her permission, and I place a gentle hand on the brown horse's side. "Hey there, buddy."
"Uh… be my guest!" Damon adds, giving Leo a push forward, and I can't help but snicker under my breath.
"Um… actually, I've got a lot of stuff to do."
"Says the guy who's currently unemployed," I shoot back, not bothering to turn to see the reaction I get.
"Oh man, look at the time!" Damon exclaims, and I sigh, exchanging exasperated glances with Maya.
"Hold it." She pauses in her work, marching up to the other two with her arms crossed. Like I said, no-nonsense. "Do I detect fear?"
"This is rich," I tease, going to stand next to her, "Who woulda thought that the incredibly strong and brave Leo and Damon would be-"
"No, not me," Damon reassures, although his tone's not very convincing.
"Fear? No way," Leo adds.
"Good, then toss a coin," Maya orders, and when the two guys glance at me, their gazes reading 'help us', I shrug and turn back to the horse. This one seems to be quite friendly, and I talk softly to it as if I can understand it like Maya can. (That would be a pretty sick ability to have, though.) The guys turn away, voices hushed in conversation, but I can hear something along the lines of "dinner" and "week". Oddly enough, I think I hear my name come up as well, but I'm pretty sure that's just a trick of the wind or something.
"Well?" Maya asks, giving my brown horse friend a final pat.
"Leo's your boy," Damon announces, and my mouth twists as I try not to laugh at the joke that's just popped up in my head, "I mean, your cowboy." Oh, hell. A giggle escapes me and I reach out my hand for a fistbump.
"Okay Leo, let's go."
The four of us make our way over to the fenced in riding area, and when Leo gets into the saddle, I can't help but notice that-
"Whoa!" Suddenly, his horse takes off, and I burst into laughter once more. However, my joy at my teammate's expense fades when he's knocked off the horse's back, and I duck under the white fence, making my way over to him.
"Leo, are you okay?"
"Nothing broken."
"Nice riding, Tex," Damon jokes, and I chuckle. We're on a roll with our jokes today. I can tell Red's about to make a snappy comeback, when his face drops. Panic flashes through our emotional link, and even though the link has been mysteriously fading over the past weeks, I can still sense the strong emotion.
"My brother's dog tags." Thankfully, they lie on the ground just near where he'd fallen, and he slips their chain back over his neck. This is one of the things that connects me to Leo: he's lost his brother, while I've lost contact with my old team. I've found a new family here on Terra Venture, but sometimes Andros, TJ, Carlos, Cassie, Ashley, and my boyfriend Zayne are all I can think about.
"Man, you shoulda seen the look on your face-"
Maya shoves Damon, and I kick his shin. "Would you like to go next?"
"No."
The alert from Alpha comes later that night, but even without it, something just feels… off. My suspicions are only confirmed when we arrive at the scene to find a few civilians unconscious on the ground. Fear strikes through me, but quickly alleviates when I bend down, checking one of their pulses. Still alive, but strangely cold, as if-
"They're frozen," Kai murmurs.
"Who could have done this?" Kendrix questions, but before any of us could give our theories, another alert comes in.
"Ai-yai-yai Rangers, the Chillyfish is freezing Terra Venture. He's coming right for you!"
"Up there, look out!" Damon's warning comes just in time, and I hit the ground, shielding myself from the blowback of the blasts that he deflects.
"There it goes!" As always, we follow Leo's lead until we come to a stop on a side street deeper into the city. Now, instead of a floating jellyfish-like creature, we're face to face with a blueish monster: Chillyfish. "Hold it!"
"Just who I was looking for. Prepare to join the rest of your colony."
"You won't get away with this!" Maya shouts defiantly.
"Who's going to stop me, you? That's funny." Leo unsheathes his Quasar Saber, and as usual, leaps into battle first. He lands a few blows, but a blue laser from Chillyfish throws him back towards us.
Before we can do much of anything, Chillyfish fires more of his lasers towards us, and I flinch, grabbing at where it'd hit at my midsection.
"What was that?"
"You'll see, Rangers. The best is yet to come. Stay cool!" With that, he's off, and I narrow my eyes. The pain from the laser blast is now a dull burning sensation, so I'm able to get to my feet.
"Come on guys, let's get him!"
"Right behind you, Red." The others are silent, and when I turn to see what's going on, they're dropping to the ground, shivers traveling over their bodies. "Oh, god."
"Come on, Kai, Maya. Fight it, come on!" Leo orders, his leader voice in full effect, but behind his tone of bravado is fear. I recognize it all too well. When Andros would be commanding us in combat, sometimes he'd be afraid, just like the rest of his team. And that's when he'd depend on TJ and I to support him, to allow him to feel that fear. Because even when he didn't believe it, it made him a better leader.
I have to be the same for Leo.
"Eyes on me, Green," I order Damon as he lists to the side, "You too, 'Drix. Don't go falling asleep on me, y'hear?" As my teammates shudder, their teeth chattering, I place them gently down against the walls of the Megaship, thoughts running on overtime. All Leo and I need to do is defeat Chillyfish. Then they'll be okay, and so will the rest of the colony. Right?
"Alpha, you too?"
"The whole colony is out cold. You two are the only ones who aren't f-f-frozen…"
"Alpha, hey! Alpha-" Leo's hand on my shoulder pulls me away from our robot friend, and despite my attempts to focus on finding a solution to this, panic starts to set in.
"Wait a minute…" As he reaches for the chain around his neck, my fear shifts into confusion. "My brother's dog tags did that. They saved me from the spell. So how did you…"
Guess I'm back in your head, cowboy. Leo jumps, and I smirk. "The bond must have its other benefits, too. Now let's go defrost our friends."
Easier said than done, unfortunately. Our Jet Jammers aren't working since the power's out, and our Cycles are malfunctioning in the cold as well.
"We might as well head back home for now," I suggest, "we won't be any good on no sleep." When Leo turns to face me, I can tell by the fire in his eyes that he's about to argue. "Don't fight me on this, Red. You know I'm-" Shit. I stumble midstep, the spot where Chillyfish's freezing blast had hit starting to radiate pain again.
"Kara, what's wrong?" I've never realized how warm Leo's hands were until now… which can only mean one thing.
"Y-you had a shield against the blast. The o-only thing I've got is a connection to you."
"So the bond might not be strong enough to keep you from freezing too?" There it is again, the fear.
"T-T-Terra Venture runs on an artificial day-n-night cycle, right? So even with the power out, it should become m-morning again in…" I glance down at my watch, barely even able to read it since my arm's shaking so badly, "Five hours-" My feet won't listen to me as I try my best to take another step, and I hit the ground, hands and knees barely supporting me-
Leo's comfortingly warm as he picks me up, holding me carefully against his chest. "Back to the apartment it is." If this was in any other situation, I'd be squirming around, yelling at him to let me down before I make him. But he's warm. Kinda like an overgrown teddy bear. "Stay with me, K. Alright?"
"F-f-fine. T-t-the others won't hear a w-word about this. C-copy?" Leo chuckles.
"I copy." I'm not sure whether minutes or a full hour has passed when he sets me down on our sofa, and try as he might to keep me warm (at one point, I think he even covers me with all of our blankets), I'm still shivering. Even on family ski trips, I've never felt this intense cold. I've been in literal single digit weather at the top of slopes, but I'd had the right attire for it. "Are you warm?"
It's all I can do to shake my head as my vision blurs in and out of focus, and Leo swears. "I don't know what to do… I could really use some of your past experience and expertise, but you can barely speak-" He pauses, and I think it's because I've taken his hand. His skin is blazingly hot against mine, and I tug him closer.
Images and words flash down the bond.
My voice.
"We all go, or none of us go."
When I'd dove in front of Horn's attack, shielding him from the worst of the blast.
"That doesn't matter right now. What matters is that you're still safe."
The time I'd sat with him as we came to terms with all we'd lost, the time when our bond was first developing.
"No one else understands but you."
My eyes fly open. I didn't realize I'd fallen asleep. My watch reads 5:13, which means there's about an hour or so left until morning will dawn on the rest of Terra Venture.
Something shifts at my back, and I jolt up, ready to defend myself- oh. It's not an intruder, rather, it's Leo. I don't remember when he'd moved me to the carpet, or when he'd laid beside me, careful to keep a respectable amount of distance, but all I know is that I'm blissfully, amazingly warm. I'll never complain about being too hot ever again.
"Kara?" His voice is groggy from sleep, and I sit up, throwing off the many blankets he'd layered on top of me. Us. I'm not cold, but a shiver still runs through me. The others will most definitely never be hearing about this.
"Thanks for saving my ass, Red, but we've got a job to do-"
Before I can do so much as protest, Leo's wrapped me in a hug, and I cringe. I'm not one for physical affection, and neither is he, quite frankly, so this is rare. "Thank god you're okay. I don't know what I'd do if you weren't, K. I'll never be annoying to you again, I promise."
"Don't make promises you can't keep."
"Touche." What- "How does being second-in-command again sound?" He pulls away from me, searching my face as I search the depths of my sleep-addled brain for a response. This level of trust… I've only ever had it with Andros, TJ, and Zayne. But Leo just saved my life, and I his, as he'd shown me via our bond.
"Now that's a promise I can keep. But, uh, I was third-in-command." I'm not sure since it's still nearly pitch black, but I think he blushes.
"Right. Now, what were you saying about a job we need to do?"
This is too creepy. Literally straight out of a horror movie, and I hate horror movies. "Alpha was right," Leo murmurs, "everybody's frozen." I jump as he slams his hand against the car window in frustration, and I peer into the window next to him.
"Chill, Leo." He flinches, and so do I. "Too soon?"
"Yeah- hey. That bird's not frozen." If Chillyfish's spell had indeed frozen the animals too, I think I'd about lose it the next time we fight him.
"Astute observation." My voice trails off as the familiar whirring of Chillyfish's jellyfish sounds behind us, and we spin in unison.
"You're not getting away this time." Curse the Red Ranger and his stamina. By the time we come to a stop at the back entrance of a building, I'm huffing and puffing. I blame it on being near frozen to death. "Treacheron!" Ugh. Not this guy again.
"Rangers. So you've managed to avoid Chillyfish's attack. Too bad you won't avoid mine. Stingwingers, attack!"
Leo and I exchange a determined glance, and as the Stingers charge towards us, I drop to the ground in a slide as he leaps into the air.
"Go, Galactic!" In one smooth motion, I get off the ground, unsheathe my Quasar Saber, and go to slash at Drakeena. To my utter shock, Treacheron dives in front of her, first deflecting Leo's attack, then mine in one clean sweep of his own sword.
"Go back to the ship!"
"But I wanna stay!" Leo and I bring our Sabers down once more, but Treacheron blocks again.
"I said, go back!" He emits a bolt of blue lightning from his hand, and with that, she's gone. Good. One foe at a time. As we continue to fight, I utilize all the swordfighting knowledge I have, parrying blows, covering for Leo's missed attacks, and dodging when I can't deflect Treacheron's blade. Something's definitely changed, though. In combat, our bond was sort of like an extra weapon, one that we could only wield if we reached deep into our minds and concentrated. But now, each of his movements are clear as if I'd already seen this fight on our television, allowing us to work in perfect harmony.
That is, until I remember the Stingwingers at our backs. Leo and I block Treacheron's attack, and as we turn, we summon our blasters. "Transdaggers!" Honestly, battle has never been this easy, I realize as we face Treacheron once more. I'm pretty sure he's realized that going high or low won't account for one of us, so instead, his next slash comes at a medium height. I bend back, keeping well out of range of his blade, and flip into a handspring, landing next to my teammate.
"Nice moves, Aqua."
"Just try to keep up, Red." With that, we raise our swords and meet Treacheron head on. Surprisingly, we're faster than he is, and our weapons slash into his sides, sending him into a bunch of crates.
"I have no time for this. The Lights of Orion call!"
"Oh, no you don't-" The words have barely left my mouth when he leaps away, already getting a headstart on us, and I groan.
"Treacheron!" Leo shouts, and I nod in the direction he'd gone.
"Let's-" Something flickers in the corner of my vision, and I glance over at it. "Did you see that, or am I just crazy?"
"I'd usually say the latter, but I think there's someone else not frozen. Come on."
Horror movies and running. Two things I don't like very much. Thankfully, we get to the park with no further difficulties, just in time to see-
"The Lights of Orion," Leo gasps, and my jaw drops as the Magna Defender captures the beautiful glowing orb into a small wooden box.
"Red Ranger. Aqua Ranger. You shouldn't be here."
"Wait, come back!" Leo and I dash forward, blocking his path. It's true that the Defender had helped us out against Fishface, but still. I don't think I quite trust him enough to let the Lights fall into his hands, either. "You have to give us the lights. They could help to unfreeze the colony-"
"You don't know what you're talking about. Step aside." He pushes Leo away, but I step backwards for each step forward that the Defender takes.
"Please." Add 'resorting to begging' to the growing list of things I dislike. "Everyone on Terra Venture is freezing, including the other Rangers. We don't have much time left, so please-" Pain lances through my stomach as the Defender punches me with the butt of his blade. I stumble back, nearly falling if it wasn't for Leo supporting me.
"I must not waver from my mission."
"Your mission?" Leo repeats, incredulous.
"I must destroy Scorpius."
"Lives are at stake, and we're the only ones left who can save them. There's no mission more important than that."
"Magna Defender, please-" The shrill sound of metal against metal alerts me to the fact that Leo's drawn his Quasar Saber, and I sigh, doing the same. So much for talking it out.
"Hand over the Lights." The Defender- no, I'm going to call him Mr. Macho again- pulls out his own weapon, and I brace myself for the oncoming fight.
"Get out of my way. If you think I won't hurt you, you're wrong. Stand. Aside."
"Never," we utter in unison, and my eyes flicker down to Mr. Macho's finger resting against his blaster's trigger. He moves to fire, and we leap into the air, narrowly avoiding the blast. Leo smacks the box out of his hands, and I run to catch it. If it hits the ground, who knows what might happen. I mean, hopefully nothing, because I'd like to think the box is sturdy enough, but still. We've waited for so long to get these lights…
The moment my fingers close around the box, the Defender's blade arcs towards me, but before it can make contact, I'm shoved to the side by Leo.
Fear digs into me, and I grit my teeth, reach out a hand as I tuck and roll, and push. Just before the weapon can slice Leo's suit, my telekinesis kicks in, knocking the blade out of the Defender's hand.
"Kara, what… how?" Oops. I guess he hadn't seen the first time I'd used-
"Watch out!" We dive out of the way of the Defender's next attack, and the two begin to exchange evenly-matched strikes. Now, I'm at a loss for what to do, especially as Leo continues to protect me. "Go! Get the Lights somewhere safe."
"I'm not leaving you here!"
"Just go! I almost lost you once, I won't lose you again!" He's not talking about the Lights, not even in this dire circumstance. Leave it to Leo to be sentimental at the wrong moments.
"You let your heart be your guide, Red Ranger," the Magna Defender hisses, "You are weak. I let nothing stand in my way." He tosses Leo to the ground, and I lash my Galaxy Gauntlet onto my right arm, holding the Lights in the other. I might not be as good as a fighter with only one arm, but it's better than leaving Leo to fend for himself.
"Scorpius will be destroyed."
"So will the whole colony!" Leo summons his own Transdaggers, but the single blast it lets off is nothing compared to the ones that follow from the Defender's stronger blaster. The green lasers toss us into the air, but even as I hit the ground, wounds beginning to leak blood, I keep my grip locked onto the Lights. I can't let these go. Not after what we've been through to get them. "Kara, please, I know you understand what's at stake. I'll be okay, just run."
Leo barely has the strength to raise his voice at me anymore, but I shake my head, curling my hand even tighter around the box. "I-I…" I'm usually good with words, but none come to me, "Our efforts to get these Lights won't mean shit if it comes at such a high cost. I'm with you, Leo. Until the end-"
Another blast sounds from the Defender's weapon, and I cry out, the laser ripping against my skin. Another blast, and we're knocked back to the ground, and as I fight to stay conscious, the box finally slips from my grasp. The Lights float out of their confines and into the air, and I watch in awe as it glitters prettily. How can something that powerful be so gorgeous?
"Look what you did," the Magna Defender snarls, and with that, he's gone. I collapse to my knees, head whirling. Save for the fights against the Psycho Rangers, I don't think I've ever been in this much physical pain. And if I'm this beat up, I can't imagine Leo-
"There has to be another way to unfreeze the colony. We've got to get to Chillyfish. But how?" Of course. In typical Red Ranger fashion, even when he's knocked down, he keeps fighting, strategizing. Something brushes against the grass in front of me, and I glance down, seeing the cutest little brown bunny scampering around-
"I can't believe we missed it!" I exclaim, "Leo, the spell didn't affect the animals. I know how we can get to Chillyfish!"
"I didn't say you'd like it. Just know that I'll be enjoying this very much." Leo mutters something like 'Maybe third-in-command made more sense after all' as we approach the two horses from the other day. They're still out in the riding area, and I pout. I hope they're not cold.
"I know you don't think I can ride. Maybe you're right, but I need your help." Where's Maya when you need her? Oh, right, frozen, thanks to this stupid spell. Finally, after a bit of galloping, the two horses calm down, and I pat the brown one gently.
"Hey there, buddy. Remember me? We're gonna need you to help us out." It neighs in something I hope is agreement, and I loop the reins gently over his nose. "Thank you. I'll tell Maya to give you a snack when she's feeling better."
"Alright, it's time to take care of business," Leo orders, and I grin.
"You're getting better at these speeches, Red."
"I don't like you." The smile on his face says otherwise, and I roll my eyes playfully. "Let's go." Then, we're off, leaping over the gate and galloping after Chillyfish.
I take back what I said: Leo's speeches are not, in fact, better.
I follow up the Red Ranger's slash with a blast from my Transdaggers, but Chillyfish's jellyfish hat thing deflects it, and I swear.
"Show me what you got!" Leo taunts, and I reload, ready to unleash another attack. As our horses gallop past each other once more, we leap out of the saddles, and I manage to fire once more before hitting the ground.
"You're not so tough, Rangers. This time I'll finish what I started!"
On three? Leo asks.
On three… two… one… now! At my telepathic command, we dash forward, slashing at Chillyfish, and I cheer as he goes down in a shower of sparks. "We make a pretty good team-" My celebration is interrupted as the Magna Defender races up to us, and I lift my Saber, ready for another fight.
"Those lights were a decoy." Okay, that was… unexpected, to say the very least. And I'd gotten all mushy for nothing? Yikes. "But you ruined my plan."
"We didn't know," Leo protests, but the argument can't continue, since Chillyfish rises in his giant form.
"Torozord, charge! Magna Defender, transform!" I still think he's a show-off. "Tell me what you know of the Lights of Orion, and I'll spare you."
"I'm not telling you anything, Magna Loser," Chillyfish spits, and I cringe. Not the best choice on his end.
"So be it. You've made your choice." The Defender lifts his duel daggers and charges forwards, his large footfalls shaking the ground. "Defender Torozord!" With the insanely (and just plain insane) fighter at our side, Chillyfish falls easily, and relief washes through me.
The others are okay, and the colony is saved.
"Magna Defender."
"What do you want?" Ugh. Everytime he goes and helps us out, he turns around and is irritating as hell.
"I didn't get a chance to say thank you."
"Don't thank me. I wasn't there to help you, only to destroy one of Scorpius' monsters, which is my own business."
"Ever heard of two birds with one stone?" I scoff, and Leo shoots me a warning glance.
"But you saved the whole colony-"
"You want so badly to believe that there is goodness inside of me. Stop believing. My heart died when Scorpius took my son from me. Only darkness remains."
That's what we'd all believed of Karone, Astronoma. But she proved us all wrong.
"There's still hope," I call after him, the image of Andros' sister flashing to mind. If she was here… she'd be doing whatever it took to convince the Defender to ally with us, "Trust us."
"No one can live in total darkness. Not even you."