Chapter Six:

The Return

Katie took a deep breath and stepped up to the cell door, nodding at her companions nearby. The door beeped and she stepped through into the Pharaoh Mask's cell, a specially designed high-security cell installed aboard the Tempest, with an invisible shield in between him and her and a trapdoor under his feet, just in case his presence became too much of a security risk.

The Pharaoh Mask looked up at her, his legs crossed in a meditative pose. "You know who I am?" Katie asked.

The Mask's eyes glowed for a second. "I do," he said. "You are Katie Young. Member of the Ranger Project. From Turtle Cove. I see you have a ten-year-old brother at—"

"Save it," Katie said. "I know how you work. Everyone you've interacted with so far, you have specifically picked out one piece of information about them they might be insecure about, just to get a rise out of them. Kenpachi's early career failures, Josh and Peggy's dead loved ones, Tammy's social anxiety. You even minimized Dayton's importance to the team by calling him the funny one. It's a playground bully tactic."

"And they sent you in because you have nothing to hide, I suppose."

"They sent me in because you won't get to me."

Khamun tilted his head. "And why is that, I wonder?"

Katie ignored him. She opened up the file in her arms. "It took us a while, but we believe we've identified you." She flipped through the papers for a second. "Khamun, previously believed mythical ruler of Egypt. Born a slave. Escaped at twelve, after which you were visited by an unknown god in the wilderness who raised you and trained you, until at eighteen, you challenged and killed all of Pharaoh's guard singlehandedly, followed by Pharaoh himself, and claimed the throne."

Katie looked up at the Mask. "I assume that 'god' was our friend, the Fuhrer."

Khamun nodded. "Very astute of you," he said. "Seems you've always had a knack for getting straight to the point."

Katie ignored him, flipping over to the next page. "After that, you reigned for over a hundred years, far more than the average human life span. I assume that was the Fuhrer too."

Khamun didn't respond. He just kept staring at her.

"Strangely," Katie said. "It seems as though all record of your reign was wiped from history immediately following your death, leaving nothing but myths and passing references. I'd say that might be the Fuhrer covering his tracks, but perhaps your reign was just that bad."

Khamun tilted his head and let out a delighted chuckle. "Fighting fire with fire, are we?" he said, clapping his hands. "Oh, well done, Miss Young."

Katie smirked at him and nodded. She flipped over to the next page. "Judging by your attack pattern over the last few days," she said, "It seems you are going after the strange gems the Iron Mask had been collecting."

Khamun didn't seem to be listening. He had his eyes glued to her movements and mannerisms and was slowly getting to his feet.

"I'm guessing Sean has them, but without his tracker, we don't know where he might be. You wouldn't be willing to enlighten us, would you?"

Khamun kept moving forward, his eyes glowing, still glued to her face. "You are an excellent soldier," he said. "Dependable, obedient. Almost to a fault. You've displayed intense loyalty to your superiors, and your closest friends, and you demonstrate a strict adherence to routine wherever you can."

Katie ignored him. "Where is Sean taking those gems? What are you doing with them?"

Khamun took another step closer. "It's interesting, isn't it? You are so loyal to your friends, yet you don't seem to make very many. In fact, you seem to avoid socialization altogether. According to these records, you seem content to keep quiet, let others around you do the talking. Many see you as rude, and you seem to miss a lot of social cues."

"Are they connected to that gem in your chest?" Katie kept going.

Khamun tilted his head. "What's this?" he said. "An odd little clump of doctor visits in your youth."

Katie closed her mouth tightly.

Khamun turned his eyes on her. The glow disappeared, and she could see the real eyes behind it, decrepit and glassy, but piercing right through to her soul. "You're a little . . . different from your friends, aren't you?" He tapped the side of his head. "Different up here."

Katie didn't respond. Khamun chuckled to himself. "Yes," he said. "Yes, you are. It's slight, but it's there." His eyes glowed again. "Wow," he said, looking around. "Medical science has sure come a long way since my time. So many words, so many names, so many little distinctions. I don't have the slightest idea where to start."

His glow disappeared and he looked back at Katie again. "Back in my day, we'd have just called you mad and locked you away."

Katie still didn't respond. The Mask nodded his head toward the nearby window. "Do they know?"

"General Kenpachi does," Katie said matter-of-factly. "And Josh does."

Khamun chuckled again. "Your leadership and your best friend," he said. "Makes sense."

Katie gave him a bored look. "Are you going to answer my questions or not?" she said.

Khamun glared at her. "No," he said. "I will not." He stepped back to the middle of his cell. "Is this the best the world has to offer against the Vader Clan? Ten people, none without their own baggage to distract them from their mission? When that portal opens, they will pick you all off one by one, and you will have no one to blame but yourselves. You are weak. You are pathetic. You are—"

Katie tilted her head. "That portal?" she said.

Khamun stopped. "What?"

Katie pointed at the glowing gem in the mummy's chest. "So those gems you're after, they open portals too, just like that one?"

Khamun shook his head. "I don't—"

"Which I assume means that that's what Sean and Doctor Kuchar are doing, getting it ready."

"No, I—"

"Which means we have a new way to track them. We just need to keep scanning for the radiation yours would have given off."

"You were not supposed to—"

Katie smirked and put on a mock-curtsy. "Thank you for your time," she said. She turned on her heel and tapped open the door.

"Get back here!" Khamun shouted after her.

Katie closed the door tightly, cutting him off. The waiting room was full of awkward silence as her friends looked up at her, most looking like they weren't quite sure what to do now. Katie crossed straight to General Kenpachi and handed back her files. "Looks like our suspicions were correct, sir."

"Indeed," the general said. "Thank you, Miss Young."

He tapped his badge. "Bridge, start a scan for any strong readings of radiation, anywhere on this hemisphere. Set a course for whatever you find."

Katie leaned back against the wall, putting on her normal stoic face. Joshua leaned against the wall beside her, not saying a word, and grasped her hand, giving it a little squeeze. Katie smiled and squeezed back.

"You know, sir," Dayton said, drawing the conversation. "Do we still have the Iron Mask's technology on file?"

General Kenpachi nodded. "I believe so."

"I think I could reverse engineer it and plug whatever he used to find the gems into our own computer, use that to track Sean and Doctor Kuchar instead of waiting until the portal is being opened."

"If you can do that, that would be excellent," the general said. "Cummins, Nixon, why don't you help him with that."

Doug and Harriet nodded. "Yes, sir."

The general looked around, trying to think. "Miss Hayes, do you know where to locate the information?"

Tammy chewed her lip and flipped through her notes. "I think so," she said. "Give me a second, and I think I'll be able to find it for you."

"While you're doing that—"

"Hey, guys," Peggy interrupted. She pointed through the large window. "Is that getting brighter?"

The crew looked at her curiously, and all moved around to get a look at what she was pointing at. Khamun was still in his cell, back in his meditative position, but the gemstone at his chest had started to glow exceedingly brighter in the few minutes since Katie had left the cell. As they watched, it grew even brighter, starting to become blinding if they stared too long.

Doug checked the console nearby. "Radiation readings are going up inside that room," he reported.

"Oh, rangers," Khamun's voice said through their intercom. "You might want to come in here soon. Soto's about to return from his homeworld, and I'm sure he's just dying to see you all again."

The ranger team all stopped and looked at each other, each one realizing what was about to happen. General Kenpachi punched an alarm button and bright red lights started to flash throughout the Tempest. "Attention, everyone," he said into the comm system. "This is a red alert. We may have an intruder aboard this ship in a few minutes."

The light kept growing brighter and brighter. Doug checked the console again. "The radiation levels are reaching their peak," he reported.

"Everyone get down!" Kenpachi ordered. "Rangers, in your suits."

"Yes, sir!"

Doug, Harriet, Tammy, and Katie dove to the floor under the window. Joshua, Peggy, and Dayton sprang to their feet, tapping their morphers and transforming into their Power Ranger forms.

"Yes!" Khamun shouted from inside the cell. "Yes! He's coming. I can feel him."

The light grew blindingly bright. Finally, the energy buildup burst, sending out a shockwave that rocked the airship despite its defenses and cracked the glass window protecting the team just slightly. The light cleared, and a new figure stood inside the cell, draped in gray and purple armor, with his back to the window.

Khamun stepped backwards. "You're not Soto," he said.

The figure glared up at him, lurching toward him at inhuman speeds and grabbing him by the throat.

"Stop them!" Kenpachi said. "Don't allow them to escape."

The trapdoor floor under the Pharaoh Mask's feet had been slightly crumpled in the blast. The new figure, holding the Mask tightly, sped right for the slight opening and broke right through it, the pair escaping into the open air. Joshua, Dayton, and Peggy started up their birdies and took off after them, leaving their teammates behind.

Doug climbed to his feet to check the console again, only to see a brand-new blip on their sensors. His eyes opened wide. "Um, sir, you're going to want to see this."

General Kenpachi made his way over to look at the blip. He and Doug stared at each other. "He's back."

Down on the ground, the figure and Khamun wrestled, but the newcomer proved too strong for the Mask. He slammed him up against a tree, holding him by the throat. "Where is Soto?" Khamun growled. "What have you done with him?"

"Soto got delayed," the figure said, his grip tightening. "Where is the portal? Where will the invasion come through?"

Before Khamun could respond, Peggy slammed into the mysterious figure, causing him to lose his grip on the Mask. The pair struggled against one another but proved to be evenly matched. They slammed into the ground, Peggy pinning the figure first, before he flipped her over and pinned her instead. He held up a curved blade to stab her when he suddenly stopped.

"Peggy?" he said, jumping off of her.

Peggy struggled to her feet and took several steps backwards. "Who are you?" she demanded. "How do you know my name?"

The figure made to remove his helmet. "Peggy, it's me," he said. "It's—"

A whip lashed around the figure, dragging him backwards. Dayton came out of nowhere to his left, trapping him in a tight chokehold.

"Wait!" the figure shouted. "It's me! Wait!"

The truth dawned on Peggy, and she rushed forward. "Wait!" she said. "Let him go."

Dayton wrestled the figure's horned helmet from his head, revealing a second, bright green helmet underneath. The moment he saw it, the yellow ranger let go and jumped back. "What the—?"

Joshua's whip went slack and retracted. "Kenny?"

The figure raised his hands and got back to his feet. "It's me, guys," he said, carefully removing the armor he'd been wearing and dumping it on the ground to reveal his still fully functioning ranger suit underneath. He tapped at his morpher, and the suit disappeared.

Kenny looked like a mess. His hair had grown long, and he now had an unkempt beard covering his chin, and he looked and smelled like he hadn't bathed in weeks, but as soon as he flashed Peggy his contagious smirk, they knew it was still him.

"Miss me?" he asked.

The rangers hesitated for only a second before rushing toward him and wrapping him in a warm hug.