"NO!" With a
scream, Rocky De Santos sat bolt upright in bed, sweat dripping off him.
"Another nightmare," he groused, sliding out of bed. This one had been
particularly bad. He'd been thirteen again, back in the noxious darkness
of Potter's cave. Adam had been screaming in mortal terror, and Rocky could
hear Aisha fumbling for the gun in the gloom.
Shaking off
the memory, Rocky rose and headed for the bathroom. It had been five years
since the cave; why was he still dreaming about it? "It's over," he muttered
to himself. "Isn't it?"
Rocky usually rode the monorail into the city for his classes at AGBI. It was cheaper than driving, and he liked to relax and let his thoughts wander in the mornings. Today, with the miasma of his nightmare still hanging over him, his thoughts unerringly flashed back to that summer, five years ago, when another series of nightmares had broken his slumber.
1992
With a start,
thirteen year-old Rocky De Santos jolted upright out of a sound sleep,
barely holding onto a cry. Soaked in sweat, he stared out his window at
the rising sun, trying to reassure himself that he had only been dreaming.
Heading for
the shower, Rocky thought back over the sequence of nightmares he had been
having over the past couple nights. All of them had centered around his
best friend, Adam Park, and in each, Adam had been in some sort of horrible
danger. This most recent nightmare had featured ropes of darkness surrounding
Adam like the cocoon of some evil butterfly. Rocky had awakened with his
friend's screams of pain and terror still ringing in his ears.
Although Rocky
was only an apprentice curandero, he understood that the visions he had
been having at night were more than just dreams. They were warnings, telling
him that Adam was in grave danger. The only problem was, Rocky didn't know
from who or what.
1997
College that
day was a disaster. It was bad enough that he'd been having nightmares
about the cave, but to make matters worse, it was Halloween day, and everyone
was distracted. On top of that, odd occurrences and a current of menace
kept Rocky on edge. He'd had three black cats cross his path, and one of
the computers at the college had exploded, even though he was nowhere near
it. As he headed back towards the monorail at the end of the day, a thunderstorm
broke, sending the commuters running for cover. As Rocky scurried towards
the train, he felt a chill in his bones that had nothing to do with the
temperature outside. Watching the scenery slide past the monorail, he could
no longer deny the truth. The demon of Potter's Cave was back.
1992
"Hey, Adam!"
Rocky called, waving to his best friend. The two of them often met at the
playground in Stone Canyon Park during the summer. Sometimes they would
spend hours or the whole day hiking in the hills outside the city, exploring
the caves tucked there, while other times, they would head to where Roper's
Creek flowed past the city on its way to the Rampoon River, which ran through
nearby Angel Grove. Today, however, Rocky had serious business on his mind.
"What's up,
Rocky?" Adam asked, noticing his friend's unusually grim expression.
Rocky took a
deep breath. "Adam, please don't think I'm crazy, but I think you're in
some sort of danger. The problem is, I don't know what kind. I keep having
these nightmares where you're swallowed up by something dark and evil.
Most of the time, it comes out of a hole in the ground." Rocky broke off,
seeing his friend grow pale. "Adam, what's the matter?"
"I don't think
you're crazy, Rocky," the Korean boy said with difficulty. "I've been having
dreams, too. They haven't exactly been nightmares, but they've certainly
given me the creeps when I wake up. I've been dreaming about hiking in
the hills, by myself, and hearing beautiful music coming out of Potter's
Cave, you know, over by the old sawmill? I go inside, and something's there
waiting for me. In the dream, I know it's the most wonderful thing imaginable-
but I don't know what it is. I have this really strong desire to go to
it- then I wake up. It scares the crap out of me! I feel like a rat being
lured towards a trap!"
Rocky frowned.
"Looks like there may be something to my dreams after all. Maybe a little
research will find out what. I'm going to head to the library. Want to
come?"
Adam shook his
head. "No, I'm going to go home. My parents are having company, and I'm
supposed to be home by three."
"Okay. I'll
come back to your house when I'm done and tell you what I've found out."
With that, the two boys split up.
1997
Rocky sat cross-legged
on his bed, taking a deep breath. Last time he'd faced the demon, he'd
been lucky enough to know who it was targeting. But this time Adam was
an adult, no longer vulnerable to the creature's tactics. He had to find
out who was the demon's intended victim this time before it was too late.
Closing his
eyes, he sank into a meditative trance. Behind his closed lids, images
began to form, coalescing into pictures painted all in shades of green.
In his mind's eye, he saw a small boy from the back, sparring with a friend.
The friend went flying over the boy's shoulder and rose, laughing. Moving
closer, Rocky gasped. The two boys sparring on the mat were Fred Kelman
and Franklin Park. And if the images were green, the focus of the image
had to be Franklin, the Green Turbo Ranger.
His eyes flew
open, and Rocky could barely restrain himself from letting out a curse.
He should have known that Franklin would be the demon's target. Like Adam,
the boy was extremely sensitive to psychic energies, and was the same age
as they had all been during their first battle with the demon. To make
him an even more attractive target, Franklin had the Green Turbo Power,
which would make him an even better prize. Hopping off his bed, Rocky almost
flew downstairs.
"Mom, I've been
thinking," Rocky said casually, strolling into the kitchen. "You were planning
to take the kids trick-or-treating tonight, right?"
Maria De Santos
looked up at her son, arching an eyebrow. Removing the pins she was affixing
to Lindsey's ballerina costume from her mouth, she nodded. "Yes," she replied
slowly. "Why?"
"Well, Pedro
said he'd stay home and give out candy, so I thought, why don't I take
out the older kids, and you can take Alex and the twins. That way, you're
home early, but the older ones can stay out later."
"That would
be nice, Rocky. Lindsey here is planning to go with some friends from school,
as is Juan, so you'd be chaperoning Rosa and her four friends. Any problem
with that?"
Rocky shook
his head, inwardly fighting the desire to cheer. With only the Turbo Rangers
to chaperone, he wouldn't have to make any excuses about weird things happening.
"No, Mom, that's fine. I'll go get ready." Smiling to himself, Rocky headed
upstairs.
1992
Mrs. Rogers,
the head librarian at Stone Canyon public, looked up in amazement as Rocky
De Santos approached her desk. It wasn't because Rocky never entered the
library; just the opposite. He spent so much time there that he knew every
nook and cranny of the place, and rarely had to ask for help. "Rocky, what
can I do for you?"
Rocky shuffled
his feet, embarrassed. He rarely went into the non-fiction section, so
he didn't know where most of the sections were located, but it still flustered
him to have to ask for help. "Um, I was wondering if you had something
on Stone Canyon legends?"
"Well, I think
so," Mrs. Rogers replied, rising to her feet. "What exactly were you looking
for?"
"Um, weird things
that had happened around here in the past, especially stuff connected to
the supernatural."
"Try this,"
she told him, taking a thick book off the shelf. "It should contain the
information that you've been looking for."
Rocky took the
heavy volume from her, blowing the dust from it gently. "A Compendium of
Ghosts and Ghouls of Stone Canyon and the Surrounding Area," he read. "Written
by Ignatius Stone." He looked up, cocking his head. "Wasn't he the son
of the guy that founded the town?"
Mrs. Rogers
nodded. "Yes. And while his father, Matthew Stone, was a business man involved
with shipping, Ignatius devoted his life to the study of the paranormal.
He collected a huge amount of stories about ghosts and goblins in the area.
I think you'll find what you're looking for in there."
Rocky smiled.
"Thanks, Mrs. Rogers." Taking the book over to one of the tables, he began
to read.
1997
"So you're taking
us trick-or-treating?" Justin asked. He shifted his helmet under his other
arm.
"Yeah, just
in case something goes wrong," Rocky answered in a low tone. "Besides,
I have something that I need to talk to you guys about."
"What is it?"
inquired Fred curiously.
Rocky shook
his head. "I'll tell you later." Just then, Rosa came down the stairs in
her costume.
"I can't believe
you all talked me into this," she grimaced. "I hate pink."
"Aw, come on,
Rosa," Tasha grinned. "Don't you think this is hilarious?" The five of
them had decided to go trick-or-treating as the Turbo Rangers, each in
the correct color. Rocky shook his head.
"You all look
great. I don't know if Zordon would ever have let us do this. Come on,
we'd better go." The six of them headed out the door.
"So what did
you want to talk to us about?" Fred asked, his voice slightly muffled by
his helmet.
Rocky sighed.
"You guys know about my training as a curandero, a healer, right?" The
kids all nodded. "Well, when I was your age, I ran into a little trouble.
A demon that had been sealed in a cave near Stone Canyon had targeted Adam,
and we had to fight it. That's when Aisha started hanging out with us.
We managed to defeat it, but unfortunately it's back. It's targeted Franklin
this time."
Frank gulped.
"Me? Why?"
"Because you're
a lot like your brother, plus you have the Green Turbo Powers," Rocky explained.
"So what's going
to happen?" Tasha inquired nervously. Rocky shrugged.
"Almost anything.
This demon doesn't follow patterns or anything." Suddenly a strange hissing
noise interrupted him as strange shapes rose up in the shadows. "This,
for example, was unexpected." All six took fighting stances as the shapes
closed in.
1992
"Oh, man!" Rocky
gulped. He had been hurrying home from the library, desperately needing
to tell Adam what he had found, when the ground under him had given way,
dropping him into an arroyo. Now, as he slowly picked himself up, he looked
around for his notebook. Finding it, he picked it up with a sigh of relief.
Suddenly a low
hissing behind him caught his attention. Turning slowly, Rocky saw an army
of rattlesnakes, far more than would naturally be gathered, slithering
towards him. There were so many of them that the ground itself appeared
to be writhing. "This is not good," he said, to no one in particular. He
was backed up against one of the sheer walls of the arroyo, and the snakes
were swiftly blocking off all of his routes of escape.
"Too many snakes
to be natural. The demon must have sent them after me. I've got to get
out of here!" Frantically, he looked around for an escape route, but to
no avail. Just when it looked as if the snakes would overwhelm him, a rifle
shot split the air, causing the reptiles to scatter in all directions.
"Need a hand?"
an unfamiliar voice called. A dark-skinned hand lowered to him. Grabbing
it, he allowed his rescuer to draw him up.
"Thanks," Rocky
puffed, looking to see who had helped him. A cheerful-looking black girl,
even shorter than he was, smiled back at him.
"Don't mention
it. Are you okay? Those snakes looked nasty. By the way, I'm Aisha. Aisha
Campbell." She extended a hand to him, and he shook it firmly.
"Rocky De Santos.
By the way, what were you doing out here with a rifle?"
Aisha grinned.
"Hunting rattlesnakes. We like to keep them off our land. What were you
doing, in such a hurry? And why were all those snakes after you? That was
not normal."
Rocky regarded
her for a long second. The few times he'd seen her at school, Aisha had
struck him as an intelligent, levelheaded person. However, this was enough
to make anyone laugh at him. Still, he needed all the help he could get,
especially if the demon pulled another stunt like that. Quickly, before
he could change his mind, he launched into an explanation of his dreams,
Adam's dreams, and the information he had found at the library.
Aisha listened
intently, then blinked. "A demon? Whoa, that's nasty. You want me to go
with you to your friend's? This sounds like a situation where you'd need
all the help you can get."
Rocky stared
at her a moment in astonishment. "You believe me?"
She shrugged.
"Sure. That's so crazy, you couldn't be making it up. Either you're nuts
or you're telling the truth, and those snakes tip the balance in favor
of truth."
"Then let's
go." Quickly, the two of them headed off to Adam's, stopping only to return
Aisha's rifle to her house.
1997
"What are these
things?" Rosa cried as the shapes closed in on them. Slowly, the creatures
stepped into the light, revealing themselves to be large snake-men. Rocky
couldn't suppress a shudder.
"I hate snakes,"
he muttered, "and that demon knows it, too."
"Come on!" Justin
cried. "We can take these guys!"
Franklin shrugged.
"Looks like we're going to have to. Here they come!"
As the creatures
charged, the six quickly dodged, and the fight began. "Chew on this!" Tasha
snarled, kicking one snake-creature in the snout. It absorbed the blow
without flinching, then sending her flying into a tree with a vicious backhand.
"Tasha!" yelled
Justin, running to her side. "Are you all right?"
"Never better,"
she replied weakly, allowing him to help her to her feet. All around them,
the others were getting the same treatment. Finally, Fred called them over
to him.
"They're too
strong," he informed them. "We have to morph. Rosa, are we clear?" Quickly,
Rosa checked both directions.
"Yeah, we're
clear."
"It's morphin
time!" Rocky called. "Zeo Ranger III, Blue!"
"Shift into
Turbo!" yelled Fred.
"Wind Chaser
Turbo Power!"
"Dune Star Turbo
Power!"
"Mountain Blaster
Turbo Power!"
"Desert Thunder
Turbo Power!"
"Red Lighting
Turbo Power!"
Blue Ranger
watched in amusement as the costumes the Rangers wore flickered subtly,
changing into their real Ranger uniforms. "All right," he grinned, once
they were all transformed. "Let's take these beasts!"
After that,
the fight was less one-sided, although Pink Turbo received a nasty shock
when one of the snake-men spewed a stream of green venom at her. "Ewww!"
she cried, dropping into a split. The venom flew over her head, striking
a tree, and instantly eating all the bark off of it.
"Didn't your
mother ever tell you, it's not polite to spit?" Green Turbo asked, wrapping
a length of chain from a nearby gate around the mouth of the offending
snake.
"No wonder these
guys are so lousy," Blue Turbo puffed, dodging a lighting-fast tail strike.
"They work for scale." The other five Rangers groaned at his pun.
"Fangs for the
workout, Kaa!" chuckled Yellow Turbo, hitting yet another snake-man in
the stomach. Realizing that they were outclassed, the snakes quickly retreated
into the darkness.
"I think we'd
better go to the Power Chamber, and you'd better explain this in-depth,
Rocky," Red Turbo suggested. Blue Ranger nodded.
"Right. Let's
go." In six flashes of light, they disappeared.
1992
"There's a demon
after me?" Adam asked again, his voice cracking. He had already been introduced
to Aisha, and told the story about Rocky's encounter with the rattlesnakes,
but had been unable to get past the concept of the demon.
"Yes, Adam,"
Rocky sighed for the fourth time.
"Sorry, it's
just kind of hard to accept. I mean, what in the world would a demon want
with me?"
"According to
legend, this creature isn't actually a demon in the Christian sense. It's
closer to the daimon of Socrates, a spirit which is neither divine nor
diabolic in origin. This one hates humans, though, a real nasty customer.
Hundreds of years ago, it tormented the native people of the area, possessing
those of the correct temperament and using their bodies to carry out its
plans. It was slowly turning even more evil, and planned to one day wipe
out the human race. Finally, a tribal shaman did battle with it, sealing
it into the darkness for five hundred years." Rocky looked at his two friends
grimly. "Five hundred years is up tomorrow. That's when it is no longer
contained, and will once again be able to find a host body."
"Why me?" Adam
asked, almost afraid of the answer.
"The demon is
best able to possess those who are open to psychic energies, ones that
have no defenses like I do. You've always been open to psychic phenomena,
but you don't have any training in mental defense. You're a perfect target."
Adam swallowed.
"Great. So what do we do?"
"I have no idea,"
Rocky sighed.
Aisha cocked
her head. "Well, I think I might know," she mused. Both boys turned towards
her.
"Yeah?" Adam
asked curiously. "What?"
"You two are
best friends, right? And we know that whatever happens, it's gonna go down
tomorrow night. If this demon is evil, it'll probably draw strength from
the darkness. So, the two of you sleep over at his house tonight, and I'll
stay up at mine. I have a couple of long-range walkie-talkies we can use,
and if anything goes down, you give me a call."
Rocky nodded.
"I like that. What about you, Adam?"
"Sounds like
a plan to me."
1997
The night passed
uneventfully, although Rocky and Franklin had decided to sleep at the Power
Chamber. Luckily, Detective Park knew his younger son was also a Power
Ranger, so there was little problem of parental concern. When morning broke,
Franklin woke to see that Rocky was gone. "Where'd Rocky go?" he asked,
rubbing sleep from his eyes.
"He went home
to get some clean clothes and then he was going to search the city for
the demon's new base of operations," Alpha informed him. "He told us to
keep you here. It's too dangerous for you to go out."
"I won't argue
with that," Franklin replied wryly, "but I don't intend to spend the rest
of the day hanging around the Power Chamber in my pajamas."
"Not a problem,"
answered the little robot, pressing a button on one of the consoles. Suddenly
a pair of blue jeans and a green T-shirt appeared on the pallet Franklin
had slept on the night before. "There is a bathroom down the hall where
you can get cleaned up and change. Also, there should be a toothbrush and
toothpaste for you. When you get back, I can use you the food replicator
to make you breakfast, if you wish."
Franklin smiled
warmly. "Thanks, Alpha. That'd be nice." Picking up his clothes, he headed
off in search of the bathroom.
"Nasty," Rocky
muttered, looking around himself. "Very nasty." Even at ten in the morning,
the warehouse section of Angel Grove was a bit seedy. It was constantly
in a half-destroyed state, thanks to the numbers of monsters who attacked
it, and no one was able to keep the city's homeless and criminal elements
from moving into the abandoned structures.
Careful not
to appear to hurried or nervous, Rocky strolled down the street, eyeing
the looming dilapidated buildings with worry. He was almost certain that
the demon would have set up shop in one of the warehouses, wanting to take
advantage of the darkness and bad feelings which permeated the whole area.
"If Angel Grove had a psychic dumping ground," Rocky muttered to himself,
"this would be it."
Suddenly a wave
of evil, blacker than anything else he had felt during his explorations,
nearly knocked him off his feet. Turning towards its source, he swallowed
hard. "I should have known," he sighed.
The warehouse
before him was older and more dilapidated than any of the others, but showed
no signs of vandalism. Some of the windows had fallen in, but they did
not appear to have been broken purposefully, and they were in the minority.
The others were still in perfect shape, and stared out on the street like
blind eyes. No graffiti adorned its sides, although its corrugated metal
walls were far more stained with rust than those of any other structure
in the area. It was as if time had collapsed in on itself, but only in
the area of that one particular building.
"Madre de Dios,"
Rocky whispered, quickly crossing himself. The evil rolling off of the
place was such that even the lowlifes of the warehouse district had sensed
it and steered clear.
"This is more
than the demon's doing," Rocky told himself. "Time for a trip to the library
to see what I can come up with."
1992
"Good night,
Adam," Rocky yawned.
"Good night,
Rocky." Adam snapped off his bedroom light, and the two lay in the dark
for a long moment. "Are you scared, Rocky?" Adam asked quietly.
"Petrified,"
replied Rocky from his sleeping bag beside the bed. "But we have to do
this. We can't keep running away from this thing forever."
"You're right,
I know. I just wish we could have told our parents about this."
"What, you think
they would have believed us?" Rocky snorted. "They would have thrown us
into a series of padded rooms so fast, our heads would have spun around.
We were doing good to get Aisha's help."
"Mmm," Adam
agreed. They were silent for a while, then, "Rocky? Do you think she's
pretty?"
"Who?"
"Aisha. Do you
think she's pretty?"
"She's okay,
I guess," Rocky replied, sitting up. "Do you like her?"
Adam shrugged.
"Maybe. I dunno."
"Well, she's
nice, she's smart, she's brave, you could do a lot worse."
"Thanks, Rocky."
"You're welcome.
Now, go to sleep!"
In the middle
of the night, something suddenly jolted Rocky out of his slumber. Blinking
rapidly to clear his vision, he saw Adam getting out of bed. In the full
moonlight seeping in the windows, Rocky could see that his friend's eyes
were blank and expressionless. In a trance, Adam crossed to his closet
and pulled on jeans, a sweatshirt, and sneakers. Then he opened his window
and jumped out. Rocky, who had slept in his own jeans, pulled on a pair
of shoes and followed, glad Adam's room was on the first floor. As he left
the room, he grabbed Adam's pistol from the table where they had placed
it. The book had told them that the demon in the cave was vulnerable to
iron, so Adam had loaded the pistol his father had given him and left it
beside his bed. Pulling a walkie-talkie out of his sweatshirt pocket, Rocky
began beeping Aisha madly.
He followed
Adam past the playground, where Aisha joined him, and soon realized with
a sinking feeling that they were headed to Potter's Cave.
1997
Franklin was
practicing a kata in the middle of the Power Chamber when the alarm began
to blare, startling him. He turned to the viewing globe and cursed quite
fluently, startling both Alpha and Zordon. Franklin Park looked and acted
so much like his brother that people tended to forget he spent a great
deal of time with Tasha Young, the Yellow Ranger. Born and bred in the
harbor district of Angel Grove, Tasha had a vocabulary that would make
truck drivers blush.
On the viewing
globe, he could see Pink Turbo fighting with the snake creatures that the
Turbo Rangers had dealt with the night before. She was dodging their venom
with ease, but she was hopelessly outnumbered and failing fast. "Those
things are after Rosa!" Franklin cried. "I've got to go help her!"
"But Franklin!"
Alpha cried. "We promised Rocky you'd stay here!"
"Tough," Franklin
shot back, pulling his Turbo Key from his pocket. "Beep the others and
tell them to meet me there! Shift into Turbo! Desert Thunder Turbo Power!"
In a flash of
green light, Green Turbo appeared on the street where the fight was. Almost
immediately, three other flashes appeared. The four Rangers threw themselves
into the fight to try and rescue their comrade.
Red Turbo suddenly
found himself flanked by two of the snakes, which grabbed his arms and
held him while the third spat a stream of deadly venom. Unable to dodge,
he had only one option. "Tire Shield!" he called. In a flash of black light,
a mantle appeared on his shoulders. It resembled the Dragonshield that
Tommy had once worn, except it was black and rounded. The venom struck
the shield and splattered on the snakes holding Red Turbo. They instantly
let him go, and he returned to the fight.
Meanwhile, Green
Turbo was fighting like a berserker, attempting to reach Pink Turbo through
the press of snake-men. Although numerous enemies tried to capture him,
none could touch him. Finally realizing this, the snakes tightened their
grip on Pink Turbo and disappeared, with her in tow. "Rosa!" Green Turbo
cried, his voice agonized. Red Turbo laid a hand on his shoulder.
"Come on, man,
we have to get back to the Power Chamber. Zordon and Alpha will know what
to do."
"They did what?" Rocky cried, slamming his hands down on a console.
The expression on his face was worthy of Tommy. Alpha's voice trembled
audibly as he replied.
"The snake-men
kidnapped your sister Rosa. No doubt they did it to try and lure you and
Franklin out into the open."
Rocky let out
a Spanish curse vile enough to make Tasha blanch. "I'm going after her,"
he sighed. "This is ending once and for all. I found where it's hiding,
and I'm going to take it down."
"I'm coming
with you," Franklin told him flatly. "Rosa's my friend too. Besides, it's
my spirit at stake here."
Rocky shook
his head. "Uh-uh. You're staying right here until all this blows over.
I'm not going to put you at risk."
"It's not your
decision. Besides, you mentioned needing cold iron against this thing.
You can't handle a gun like I can. Dad and Adam have been teaching me to
shoot since I was seven."
Rocky looked
at Franklin for a long moment, trying desperately not to laugh. Although
the situation itself was not funny, he couldn't help but be amused. He
had seen the look in Franklin's eyes before, when Adam was worried about
Tanya, and he knew it meant the other boy would not be backing down. When
did this happen? Rocky asked himself with a sigh. When did Franklin
Park fall in love with my sister?
The two children
had been close all their lives, and over the last few years, Rocky had
noticed their friendship developing into something more, something deeper,
but he hadn't quite expected this. He supposed that it had been brought
to the forefront by their adventures as Turbo Rangers. Goodness knows,
that was the catalyst for every other relationship on the three teams.
"All right.
Just the two of us, though. I don't want to risk anyone else's life."
Franklin nodded,
then removed his Turbo Morpher. "That demon is not getting my Turbo Powers,
no matter what. If I don't come back, find someone to give them to, okay,
Fred?" Fred just nodded, not trying to speak.
"Let's go,"
Franklin sighed, and the two Rangers dissolved into beams of colored light,
heading for the Park household and Franklin's .38.
1992
"Adam!" Rocky
hissed, not able to keep silent any longer. He had been worried about what
would happen to Adam if they awakened him suddenly, but now that they were
deep in the darkness of Potter's Cave, he could no longer wait. "Adam,
wake up!"
"Huh? What?"
Adam asked, jerking into wakefulness. "Where am I? What's going on?"
"You are in
my domain," a cold voice laughed. "For five hundred years, I have been
locked in darkness. Now I am free, and you will serve as my host, allowing
me to walk the world once more!"
"Not if we have
anything to say about it!" Rocky cried, determination and fear warring
in his voice.
"So, a spirit
warrior comes to protect his friend! And a young maiden as well! I have
no need of you. Return to your homes, and you may yet live."
"Not without
Adam," replied Aisha, in a voice made of stone. "We don't abandon our friends."
"Then you shall
die, humans! Though I cannot walk the world beyond without a host, in this
cave, I exist! The boy is mine, and you are dead!"
Two red spots
appeared, floating in mid-air. With a sensation like being dipped in liquid
nitrogen, Rocky realized that they were the demon's eyes. The demon let
out a spirit-curdling roar and charged them. That was when all hell broke
loose.
1997
"What in the name of God
happened here?" Franklin asked in awe, looking at the dilapidated warehouse.
His enhanced psychic senses were almost shorting out from the evil rolling
off the structure.
"God had nothing
to do with it, I'm afraid," Rocky replied grimly. "Have you ever heard
of The Angel's Song massacre?"
"Sure, every
kid knows about that. The Angel's Song was a speakeasy, back in the '20's.
One night, the guy who ran it and most of his gang were wiped out by competing
bootleggers."
"Right. Well,
this warehouse was where The Angel's Song was built. After the massacre,
no one wanted to buy it, because it was rumored to be haunted. So they
tore it down, and after a while, someone built a warehouse. This warehouse.
It's the only one in the area still standing from the early '40's, when
it was built. Even the monsters stay away."
"But- how could
one murder, even a mass murder, cause the type of evil that's consuming
this building?"
"It's on a ley
line nexus. Remember, Angel Grove is situated on a major groundstar, where
a whole mess of them come together. Smaller nexuses are located all around
the major one, which is located under the youth center, of all places."
Franklin chuckled.
"It figures."
"Anyway, the
evil of the massacre polluted the nexus, and now the place is a center
for the powers of Darkness."
"Whoa. Scary."
"You're telling
me. Is that thing loaded?"
"Steel-jacketed
rounds, just like you ordered."
"Good. Let's
go, nice and easy." Moving as silently as the wind, the two boys began
to head to the warehouse.
Slowly, the two
of them sneaked into the structure, moving with speed and silence, following
the sounds of harsh multilingual cursing. Franklin wasn't the only Turbo
Ranger to have picked up Tasha's vocabulary.
"Wow," Rocky
remarked, awestruck. "I didn't know she knew all those words."
Franklin just
chuckled. Rounding a corner, they found themselves in a dimly lit section
of the warehouse. Up ahead, they could see Rosa tied to a beam, yelling
at something just out of their line of sight.
"All right,
I'm here, you son of a bitch," Rocky snarled, stepping forward. While the
demon's attention was focused on him, Franklin darted in and began untying
Rosa.
"Ah, so good
of you to come, human! I have been waiting for this day for five years,
stranded in the outer darkness! And now I will rip you apart and feast
upon your spirit."
"I don't think
so, creep," Franklin interrupted. "We're going to take you down!"
The demon just
laughed. "That sounds very familiar. I believe your brother said the same
thing, five years ago, and I'm still here."
"So's Adam,"
Franklin shot back. "Let's rock."
"So be it, humans.
Prepare to die!" The demon charged them, and for the second time in Rocky's
memory, all hell broke loose.
1992
With a couple
casual backhanded cuffs, the charging demon knocked Rocky and Aisha into
the walls of the cave. As he struck the rock, Rocky lost his grip on the
gun, which went skittering off into the darkness. Laughing evilly, the
demon picked up Adam. Rocky realized with horror that he could see them
both. Adam and the demon were both glowing with a baleful red light as
the evil being tried to force its way into Adam's body, dispossessing his
soul in the process. Adam was screaming in fear and agony, and behind him,
Rocky could hear Aisha scrambling for the gun.
"Let him go!"
Rocky cried, advancing on the pair, heedless of his own injuries. Blood
was running down a cut on the side of his head and everything was blurry,
but somehow he managed to keep on his feet.
Still laughing,
the demon turned toward Rocky and shot two bursts of light out of the burning
coals of its eyes, sending him back into the wall once more.
"Drop him, sucker!"
Aisha snapped, her voice splitting the air in the cave like a knife. "Or
I swear, I'll blow your head off!"
The demon threw
Adam aside casually, sending him to the ground near Rocky. As the creature
advanced on her, Aisha snapped off a series of shots. All of the shots
struck home, and the demon sent up an outraged, pained howl as the bullets
tore through it.
"It's hurt,
but it's not stopping!" Aisha cried. "What do we do now?"
Suddenly, something
inside Rocky snapped. "Leave my friends alone!" he cried. Raising a hand
to the wound on his head, he flung the blood from it at the demon as hard
as he could. As the droplets struck home, the demon howled again, this
time in pure agony.
"Get out of
here!" Rocky screamed, his voice cracking. "Go back where you came from.
Go back to HELL!" At this last word, the demon began glowing with a bright
white light, then faded out. As the three teens recovered from the light,
they realized that the demon had completely disappeared. That was when
the cave started to shake.
"We've got a
cave-in!" Adam cried. "Come on, we've got to get out of here!" The three
of them ran for the entrance, wondering if they would escape in time.
1997
This time, Rocky
was a little more prepared for the demon's charge. Ducking out of the way,
he let Franklin unload an entire clip of steel-jacketed rounds into the
beast. As it howled in pain, he turned to the two Turbo Rangers.
"Get out of
here. The world needs you to defend it. Besides, this is my fight."
Rosa started
to protest, but Franklin stopped her. "Are you sure?" he asked seriously.
Rocky nodded.
"Yes, I'm sure.
Go on. This ends here, tonight." In two columns of colored sparks, Franklin
and Rosa disappeared. Rocky turned back to the demon, which was weakened,
but recovering. "All right, you creep. Let's rock."
"You young fool!
Do you think you can stand against me with no one to help you? You barely
survived the last time, and you had two friends with you."
"But now, I'm
older and wiser. I've faced worse than you and come through it." Rocky
fell into a defensive stance. "I'm not letting you hurt anyone else, ever
again, even if I have to die to prevent it."
"Then so be
it, human!" Faster than thought, the demon struck out, sending Rocky flying
through one of the flimsy walls. Pulling himself together, the boy launched
himself at his adversary. Although he landed several devastating punches
and kicks, the creature simply laughed them off. Red light flared around
it, and Rocky suddenly found himself slammed into a much thicker wall,
several times. As he dropped to the floor, he looked up at the creature
advancing on him through bleary eyes.
That's it,
I'm dead, he thought despairingly. I can't beat him. I never could.
Not all enemies
can be bested with a physical fight, a familiar voice whispered in
his mind. Remember your training, Rocky.
Who are you?
Rocky thought, even as the demon lifted him into the air. Whoa!
He crashed through another wall and rose painfully to his hands and knees.
The demon was instantly at his side, pulling his head up and hitting him
again and again.
Damn it,
Rocky! Pull yourself together, or we're going to be meeting a lot sooner
than I'd hoped! And how the hell do you expect Rosa to explain that to
your mother!
Even through
the pain-induced fog in his brain, Rocky recognized the voice. Dad?
he thought incredulously. It can't be! You're dead!
Hasn't being
a Ranger taught you anything? Nothing is impossible! Now get up and fight,
before this thing destroys you!
I don't know
how! Rocky wailed mentally. He just absorbs everything I throw at
him!
Then stop
fighting with your body and start using your brain! Didn't my mother teach
you anything? You are a curandero, a holder of the powers of Light! How
do you defeat darkness and evil?
"With light
and love," Rocky whispered, finally understanding. Pulling himself to his
feet, he turned to face the demon, which shrank back from the expression
in Rocky's eyes. Concentrating, Rocky pulled on all the memories of love
and friendship he had, focusing on them until he felt power exploding through
his body and he began to glow with a blue-white light. "By all that is
light, I banish you, creature of darkness!" he cried, stepping forward.
"Return to the night, return to the dark, be gone from the world of men
forever! By light and love, I cast you out!" Suddenly, he moved into a
spin kick, his foot making crushing contact with the demon's head. His
blue-white aura flared like the heart of a star. Released energy exploded,
fountaining up through the roof and blowing out the walls. The light from
the blast was visible over most of the city. Then it subsided, and all
was silent.
"Rocky? Rocky,
wake up," a voice said. Rocky swam back to consciousness with the second-worst
headache he had ever had.
"I think the
hangover had this one beat," he grumbled. Opening his eyes, he saw Detective
Trevor Park looking down at him in concern.
"Rocky, are
you okay? We saw the explosion at headquarters, and Franklin contacted
me and told me what had happened, so I volunteered to check it out alone,"
Adam's father explained, helping Rocky to sit up.
"I feel awful,
but I'm alive," he groaned. "Oh, man. Looks like the demon's history, not
to mention the warehouse." The two of them surveyed the destruction around
them. Very little of the warehouse was left standing. Suddenly Rocky realized
something.
"Hey, I don't
feel any evil here! I guess the blast must have purified it!"
Trevor looked
at him for a long moment, then shook his head. "I learned a long time ago
not to ask. Are you all right?"
"Yeah," Rocky
smiled. "I think I am."
"Mama, Carolyn
took my Blue Ranger figure!"
"Well, Raul
gave my Barbie doll a haircut!"
Rocky grinned.
Outside, he could hear the sounds of the annual De Santos family Day of
the Dead get-together going in full swing. Every year, on November 2, the
family got together to celebrate the Mexican holiday and remember the loved
ones that had passed on. At the moment, he was in his bedroom, lighting
the last of the votive candles.
"I love you,
Jen," he said to the photo of his former girlfriend. "I always will. I
hope you're happy, wherever you are, and I hope that you know I am too."
Moving to the
last picture, he lit the candle before it. "Dad, I want to say thanks for
helping me out yesterday. I couldn't have made it without you. I miss you
a lot, but I know you're always with me. I love you." That finished, Rocky
went downstairs to join the party.
It wasn't quite
the same, of course. Adam was at Northwestern University in Illinois, so
Mama Carmen could not chase him down and try to convince him to become
a curandero, the way she usually did. Franklin seemed to be better at avoiding
her, so he didn't have that problem. Sighting his thirteen year-old cousin
Mollie De Santos over by the grill alone, he crossed to her. "Mollie, where's
Nikki? The two of you are usually attached at the hip." Mollie just grinned
and pointed. Rocky turned to see that Nikki, Mollie's best friend, had
Franklin Park cornered and was obviously trying to flirt. "Guess she's
given up on Adam," Rocky chuckled. Nikki had always had the hugest crush
on his best friend, although he had never been interested. Now that Adam
was gone, he assumed that Nikki had moved onto the next available Park.
He was about
to break in and rescue the younger boy, but someone beat him to it. Rosa
came up to the pair and draped an extremely possessive arm around Franklin's
shoulders. Nikki, not wanting to mess with a blue belt in Karate, backed
off in a hurry.
Laughing, Rocky
headed off into the rest of the party. The sounds of merriment echoed long
into the night, and occasionally, out of the corner of his eye, Rocky thought
he saw a tall, dark-haired man watching with a smile. "I love you too,
Dad," he whispered. "Te amo tambien."
The End... for now