A month passed dreadfully fast for the two prophesied children and their world was hastily thrown upside down, as well as rearranged.
A few days following their enlightening, Diabolico was released from prison along with the other demons and they all moved to reside in Skull Cavern. Almost immediately, they attacked the city of Mariner Bay with one of Diabolico's many monsters, looking to reclaim it for Queen Bansheera...disguising their true mission, which Victoria and Ryan were led to believe.
As if a retort to their attack, a team of five appeared from nowhere and attacked their monster, destroying it rather easily. Both Ryan and Victoria had been surprised by their seemingly vast power, but Diabolico reassured them that these people were weak for they could hold nothing to his two protegees.
It was on their third attack that Victoria first made her appearance in front of these "Power Rangers" as her demonic persona of Vypra. Though she did not succeed, through this battle it was finally revealed to Ryan that his father was in charge of the group of "Power Rangers" and that his younger sister, Dana, was also part of the pathetic group.
Upon the discovery of that information, Ryan erupted; the lava of his passionate hate slowly oozing it's way through Skull Cavern little by little.
***
"I ask you, Father," Ryan demanded, Diabolico standing before him in the quarters he shared with Victoria in Skull Cavern, "let me go out and fight beside Victoria! Give me the chance to destroy all of them all at once!"
"Not right now, Ryan," Diabolico insisted, his arms folded across his large chest. "We must wait until the time is right, THEN you may get your chance for vengeance."
"I CAN'T wait!" he shouted back heatedly in protest. "I must kill them NOW!"
A split second later, a slap resounded through Ryan's ears and he found himself sprawled out on the bed on his back. A jutting pain ached through his entire jaw as he tried to speak, finding that he couldn't.
"You will obey me, Ryan," Diabolico growled lowly, flexing his hand a few times. "I raised you to not be foolish and to think things through; to have a bit of common sense. I won't tolerate stupidity or selfishness from you!"
The blond man watched from his place on the bed as the monster left the room in a simple flourish. Rising to sit up, he gently cradled his aching jaw within his hands and continued to stare at the door in astonishment for many minutes. His father had hit him...
"Ryan!" The voice of his companion echoed through the door, and soon enough, she appeared in the doorway, still dressed head to toe in her armor. "RYAN!" she screamed once more, running to the bed where he sat and eyeing his jaw.
Though he couldn't tell her anything, Victoria could see the throbbing pain in his eyes as well as his sudden shock. She knew of his conflict with Diabolico, for just moments before in the gathering room he had told her of what he had done to Ryan. "He broke your jaw," she told him softly, sitting down beside him and cupping his face with her hands. Closing her eyes, she took to concentration and blue light emitted from her hands, healing his face.
Victoria drew her hands away from his face, allowing him move his jaw around a few times, making sure it was in working condition. "He hit me." Ryan finally spoke with a mixture of wonder and resentment.
"I know that," she retorted, moving away from him and slowly stripping herself of her armor.
"But...he hit me!" he cried once more, stunned. The thought simply was unbearable for Ryan; his father had never hit him! What possessed him to do so now?
The enchantress sighed, while sifting through her clothes searching for something halfway decent to wear to bed. "Ryan, you ASKED for Father to hit you! You were ordering him around...playing the role of a stubborn child!" She ultimately found a simple black silk slip from one of their explorations out in the human world hiding at the bottom of her wooden chest and slid that over her armor-less body. "I know you are furious about-"
"I am NOT stubborn!"
"Oh, really?"
"If anything, YOU'RE stubborn!"
"Me?" Victoria was now standing at the foot of the bed where Ryan still sat, glaring. "How am I stubborn?"
"You never stop until you get what you want," Ryan replied quite seriously, his voice tempered. "Like that time when we were seven, you wanted my pineapples and wouldn't stop pestering me until I gave them to you because I couldn't stand your whining!"
She gasped, her eyes wide. "I do not whine!"
Ryan was about to let out another spiteful remark, when he realized how immature they actually were acting and began to laugh. "What?" She glared at him, the most childish pout upon her features.
"When was the last time we fought like this?" he queried through his laughter.
"When we were ten," she quickly responded, then caught on to what Ryan was implying and began to giggle. "We fought over who should get the bigger pillow on the bed..."
Both of them burst into a louder fit of laughter, Victoria falling back onto the bed beside Ryan, clutching her stomach for dear life. Their howls of laughter must have filled the caverns for over ten minutes until they eventually began to spiral down from their high points and calm down.
They laid beside one another, tired and worn from their fun, trying to catch their breath. Victoria rolled over onto her side and propped her head up with her arm, gazing down at Ryan with his eyes closed as he tried to slow his breathing to normal. Compelled out of a need to touch him, she took one of her long nails and dragged it down the side of his face, creating a light scratch mark.
His eyes flickered open slightly at the unexpected touch, but he didn't push her away.
Victoria ran her finger over the little scratch, trying to rub it away, while her eyes wandered over his face. She could see him peeking up at her with his intense green eyes through his half-open lids, watching the movement of her own mysterious brown ones as they brushed over his lips. His pursed lips - a light tone of red - held in a straight line so quietly when just before they had expelled the beautiful sound of his laughter.
She moved her thumb to graze across his lips when he softly kissed the tip of her thumb, causing a slow shudder to overcome her. Ryan's hand now began to move also, taking her hand into his and holding it up to his mouth so that he could devour her sensitive skin - calluses and all.
Gasping in pleasure at his touch, Victoria moaned, "Ryan, did Father tell you everything?"
"Tell me everything of what?" he murmured, his lips gliding up her arm from her fingers.
"Tell you everything about the prophecy?" she managed to groan out as he tugged her on top of him.
Totally involved with her neck now, Ryan barely even heard her question; nevertheless, he was able to grunt his answer to her. "Uh-huh..."
The promise she made to Diabolico was the last conscious thought that entered Victoria's mind before Ryan finally made his way up to her mouth, catching her lips in a fiery kiss.
***
Ryan awoke the next morning to feel the warm petite body that had been sleeping closely against him leaving him and the confines of their bed. Without even opening his tired eyes, he could hear her bare feet against the stone floor and stopping, just as a creak from her old chest sounded.
"What are you doing?" he mumbled with a deep yawn, sitting up in the bed as he heard the shuffle of clothing.
"Here."
He finally ripped his eyes open just as a pair of clothes hit him in the face. "Hey!" he cried, rubbing his face with his hands, trying to wake himself up fully. "What am I supposed to do with these?"
Victoria rolled her eyes at him from where she stood, watching him stare at the black zip-up shirt and black cargo pants she had thrown him with a puzzled look. "They're clothes, Ryan; you wear them," she snorted sarcastically, yet grinning at him.
"I know THAT part," he remarked, tossing the clothes aside and glancing up at his lover, who was bent over her chest digging deeply into the clothes. His eyes widened as his gaze remained glued upon her back for many minutes before he spoke once again. "Ummm...who says we need clothes for whatever you're planning? You look delicious without clothing...almost as good as pineapples."
Victoria chuckled, removing her head from inside the chest and shaking her head at Ryan. "Almost?" She stuck her tongue out at him playfully and returned to her search. "Actually, if you want to walk around Mariner Bay nude, I don't mind. Just as long as you don't get yourself into trouble."
"We're going into Mariner Bay?" Ryan queried, his brow furrowing slightly with tension. "Why? Does Father need us to do something for him?"
She noted the strain in the tone of his voice and turned around, plopping down on the bed before him. "We are not going to kill anybody today," she declared sternly, meeting his wavering glance. "Father is attacking Mariner Bay today on his own with one of Jinxer's monsters. I guess you could say I have the day off, and while I usually would spend it training with you, I feel like going shopping."
Ryan blinked a few times in bewilderment. "You want to go shopping? Is this another one of your weird magic urges?"
Slapping him once in the arm, she snickered. "Actually, I think it may be one of those human womanly urges that I just can't suppress with magic."
"And I'm going with you?"
"Yes."
"Do I have a choice in the matter?"
"No."
"Are you sure?" Ryan questioned once more, his hand slipping up her bare calf. "Because I was really looking forward to doing a little more training today."
A smirk fell upon Victoria's lips as she saw a wicked grin curl upon his own. "And what kind of training did you have in mind?" she teased, a mischievous glint in her eye.
"Oh, just one that involves the use of a bed, that's all," he winked back, patting an empty spot on the bed next to him.
Victoria feigned a look of fright, gazing down at the bed. "That sounds a little too dangerous for me I think..."
Ryan huffed at her mockingly, grabbing her and pulling her onto him as he fell back into the bed. "Dangerous? Since when did we limit ourselves to dangerous?!"
***
Several hours following, when Victoria finally managed to actually remove Ryan from bed, she found herself browsing through the flea market that was set up smack dab in the middle of bubbling city, Mariner Bay.
If there was one place where Victoria wanted to be at that very moment it was the flea market. It was the complete opposite of her: chaotic, noisy and crowded. She knew she would be able to loose her thoughts in the swarm of craziness; maybe even make her stop thinking about what had taken place between her and Ryan the night before.
Of course, that also was the real reason she had chosen to go shopping in the first place: to get her mind off Ryan. She supposed she shouldn't have dragged him along with her because it most likely wasn't helping her forget him, but she couldn't help but want to be with him. He was intoxicating, like some kind of drug. Whenever he touched her, she lost all conscious thought and simply needed to drown in everything that was him.
Her eyes roamed the many stands around her, until she noticed Ryan admiring one of the stands behind her. He had his fingers coiled around something, and it was shiny because she could see the sunlight of the beautiful day glinting off of it. "Hey, I thought I was the one interested in the shopping," she remarked, pressing up behind him and staring down at the thing in his hands. It was a plain silver ball necklace. "Attracted?" she questioned curiously, nodding towards the item.
He glanced back at her then brought her to his side, his arm wrapped firmly around her waist. "It reminded me of you," he chuckled softly, allowing the necklace to dangle from his fingers. "Your armor, and how the sun hits it when you battle those nasty, pesky, Power Rangers."
Victoria smiled back, glad he was back to tossing out petty insults about the Power Rangers. Maybe his father breaking his jaw had knocked some sense into him, or maybe she had just managed to make him completely forget about his anger towards his blood family. While her logical side hoped that the first thought was true, a little piece of her wanted the latter reason to be the answer. She shrugged mentally; either way, he wasn't dwelling upon his wicked father or sister and that was more than enough for her.
She cast her gaze back towards his hand, where he still examined the necklace. "Did you want it?"
Ryan shrugged absently, fingering the little price tag attached to it. "Twenty dollars," he commented with a scoff, laying the jewelry back down on the table. "Are you willing to pay that much for a piece of metal?"
A sudden swell of emotion overcame Victoria as she thought of the necklace. She had seen how Ryan gazed at it, almost longingly; like it was a piece of her he never wanted to be without. The feeling was warm and gentle and determined; it made her feel the NEED to buy the necklace for him, no matter the cost. "Don't worry," she assured with the smallest of smiles, "I'm pretty sure I could bargain her down a few dollars. Besides, you want it...I'll get it for you. It's not like I'm going to run out of money anytime soon, and if I do I can make some more."
"You don't have to buy-"
"Nonsense!" She quieted him, waving down one of the ladies running the stand while Ryan stepped back to watch. "Miss, I was wondering, how much is this necklace?" Victoria smiled brightly and motioned to the silver ball-chain.
The middle-aged woman grinned back at her, playing into Victoria's hands. "This one?" she questioned, picking up the necklace and examining the little tag. "It's twenty dollars."
Victoria pulled a small fist of bills out from her pocket and counted them out before the woman. "Twenty? Oh, I only have twelve dollars!" She feigned a soft frown, appearing to look disappointed. She then returned her solemn gaze to the object in the older woman's hand. "I really wanted that necklace too; my cousin would've loved it. See, her birthday's in two days and I haven't been able to find anything to give to her, but when I spotted that necklace I KNEW it'd be perfect!" She quickly finished weaving her little lie before the woman, hoping that her plea of desperate help would get her to go down on the price.
Ryan watched in awe as the woman slowly smiled and said a few words to Victoria, handing her the necklace. In turn, the petite woman handed over the twelve dollars in her hand and voiced a, "Thank you so much!" before moving away from the stand and towards where he stood, a few stands ahead.
"I told you if you wanted it, I'd get it for you," she told him with a grin as they headed towards a bench and sat down.
"You are so stubborn," he remarked, softly kissing her lush red lips, "and you're a liar."
She shrugged absently, leaning forward to slide the silver chain around his neck. "So I'm both, I'll admit it. But why are you complaining? It got you what you wanted, right?"
"Whoever said I was complaining?" he replied, relishing the touch of her arms around his neck. "I like it when you're evil!"
As Victoria finished clasping the chain around his neck, she abruptly felt something soft and warm against her own bare shoulder and groaned happily. Ryan could choose the most inappropriate times to be intimate, but that's what she most enjoyed about him.
Closing her eyes, she sunk into him and returned his gesture, nibbling at his ear hungrily. She let him ravish her with his caresses, all the while sensing the stares they both were getting from some onlookers. Being the center of attention was such a wondrous feeling...one she hadn't experienced very often before that point.
She and Ryan continued on with their make-out session, oblivious to the world around them until a rather loud and obnoxious voice snorted, "Geez, you'd think they'd learn to get a room or something!"
The two lovers almost instantly pulled away from one another, both recognizing the annoying voice. Arching their heads behind them, they saw Joel Rawlings - cowboy hat and all - shaking his head in a scolding manner. Dana Mitchell and Kelsey Winslow weren't far behind him, all of them wearing their tacky-looking Lightspeed Rescue jackets. God, how Ryan wanted to rip those things off them!
The Green, Pink and Yellow Rangers standing directly before them, not even knowing they were staring at their sworn enemies. Victoria ducked her head, fighting off the urge to burst out laughing. The situation was just too ironic.
On the other hand, Ryan was blazing mad. He was literally glaring daggers into the three rangers for many moments, until Joel finally spoke up again, snapping out at Ryan. "What are you staring at? I'm simply voicing my opinion. Freedom of Speech; the First Amendment, you know."
"Joel!" Kelsey cried out nervously, grasping him shoulder and pulling him away slightly. "What are you doing? That guy looks like he could eat you!"
Victoria's head shot up at Kelsey's words, and she faced her companion to see the glinting predatory glare he gave only when he was preparing to attack. And it wasn't solely focused on Joel...it was focused on all three of them.
She quickly laced her arms around his shoulders and crawled into his lap, making sure she kept him steady in his seat. The last thing they needed was for him to go all animal-like on the three of them and have their entire cover blown; they were normal Mariner Bay citizens for the moment, and that's all they could show. "Ryan," she pleaded, her eyes darting between the group of rangers and her lover. It was because of that she was able to catch the slight wince to appear on Dana's face when she voiced Ryan's name. Bitch, she deserved to wince and more; however, Victoria wasn't about to risk them both for her own little vendetta against the Pink Ranger. "Ryan, just leave them alone. We can go somewhere else. Just forget it."
Gazing persistently into Ryan's eyes, she managed to finally get through to him and the dark, predatory look vanished from his eyes. Victoria smiled tightly, trying to tell him of the precarious position they were in and he immediately took heed. "Come on," he declared, standing up from the bench and taking Victoria's hand. "You're right. He's not worth it."
The couple walked away arm in arm, and she could still sense his intensity from the confrontation in his body as he walked somewhat rigidly. "That was close," she heaved nervously under her breath, just so Ryan could hear her. She had never felt nervous before, and she never wanted to again. "I can't believe the nerve of those rangers! All haughty, thinking they own the city!"
"I would've killed them where they stood," Ryan whispered heatedly, as they continued to walk towards the end of the flea market.
Victoria nodded solemnly, her arm squeezing his gently while she continued to stare straight ahead as if nothing had happened. "I know you would have."
***
Another two months passed by swiftly for all the occupants of Skull Cavern, as those two months became desirably forgettable.
Every battle fought against the Power Rangers for control of Mariner Bay was lost. Victoria found herself being sent out more often into battle situations where she was always able to keep her ground against the rangers, but as soon as Diabolico ordered Jixner to send out one of the monsters to finish the job, the battle was lost.
It drove both her and Ryan to the point of madness. Victoria couldn't understand why her father wouldn't let her finish off the Power Rangers when he very well knew that she could blow them to pieces with an easy wave of her hand. Ryan couldn't understand why his father refused to let him fight against the Power Rangers at all when he most certainly had the skill to destroy all five of them. Instead, he was stuck training himself with an axe; training that Diabolico insisted would soon become very useful. Ryan rolled his eyes at the thought. A dagger was the most useful of all his weapons; an axe simply seemed too clumsy for his agile grace.
The two were left in the dark until one night when Diabolico called them to him.
***
Diabolico stood before his two students in the gathering room; Victoria appareled in her body armor and Ryan in his usual casual clothing of black. Within the blond man's hands sat the axe given to him by Diabolico a month prior.
"You wanted us, Father?" Ryan questioned, his fingers running along the dull side of the axe's blade.
"Yes," the monster answered. "I know you wonder why I let us continually loose to the Power Rangers; I can see your eyes. So I will tell you why.
"I let us loose because I have been waiting for this chance that those stupid pathetic rangers and their Lightspeed Rescue commander have laid out for us." He paused momentarily to see the fascination light up in their eyes. "For the last month, I have been quite aware of the experiments they've been running in the Aquabase. One of these experiments caught my eye: the creation of a sixth Power Ranger, the Titanium Ranger.
"Just earlier today, the experiment was taken a step further as the Red Ranger was used to try and harness the powers of the Titanium Ranger. He wasn't able to because he was an ordinary human and due to this, the experimentation on the morpher was stopped."
It was like Victoria was reading Diabolico's mind because she knew exactly what he was going to say, and the excitement caused a incredibly large smile to peel across her face. "And you want to give this morpher to Ryan?" she queried, trying very hard to keep the happiness out of her voice. Her companion was finally going to be able to fight by her side!
Ryan glanced at the woman beside him, shocked at the words that had just flown out of her mouth. He was going to harness Ranger powers? Oh, how glorious the idea sounded to him! With that type of power, he would become undefeatable! "Is it true, Father?" he prodded, trying not to sound forceful or too excited for that matter. "Will I finally get my day of revenge against my blood?"
Diabolico chuckled at the antics of his protegees. He had raised them to think just like him...they had practically read his thoughts. Diabolico was glad; he had tutored and created a fine warrior and enchantress. "Yes, you will Ryan," he paused, studying the man as a lust for vengeance began to fill his eyes. "I will allow you to have your way with all the Power Rangers, so long as you destroy them. That is my only demand."
"Very well," Ryan agreed easily, his mind wandering to the many possibilities and ways he could destroy them all. He usually wasn't so bloodthirsty, but since the chance of revenge lingered so near he couldn't help it. The chance that was being handed to him was what he had longed for since he was fifteen. Five years of waiting...he couldn't wait any longer. "Where is the morpher?"
"You will retrieve it from the base, Ryan. Victoria will disengage all the alarms for you; all you will have to do is go into your blood father's office and remove the morpher from his safe."
Ryan grinned, glancing at Victoria who had the same sly grin on her lips. "This is going to be too easy; those Power Rangers won't know what hit them."
***
"So this is what Mariner Bay looks like in the morning?"
"This is it." Victoria wandered away from her post at the edge of the tall building, standing next to Ryan while their group of battlings stood silently around them. "Are you ready to face them?"
His eyes glittered eagerly from within his helmet, his visor up, so he could enjoy the sunrise over the city to the fullest. "I've been ready since forever, my dear Vypra." He chuckled, caressing her cheek with his gloved fingers. It had been the first time Ryan had ever called Victoria by her alter ego's name, and she loved the way he said it. The name had jumped off his tongue fast and hard, like a striking cobra - just the way she wanted the Power Rangers to remember her.
"Then let's get to work," she returned, walking up to the side of the building once more, the battlings following her obediently. She brought her hand up, closing her fingers and their long red nails into a tight fist and began to concentrate. After a few moments, Victoria's eyes flashed open and a devilish grin appeared on her features. "Isn't it beautiful? The last sunrise Mariner Bay will ever see!"
Her fisted hand began to glow an iridescent blue and with a swift thrust of her arm, she sent the tenacious ball of energy catapulting forward into one of the tall skyscrapers of Mariner Bay's skyline.
The city's demise now lay tightly in the two prophesized children's grip.
***
Victoria held out her sword in front of her as she trooped down a ramp and through the lower part of the building, her battlings right behind her. She stopped in the middle of the abandoned warehouse, and laughed wickedly while bringing her fist to her face again, gazing around the room. "Next target..." She waved her fingers around, trying to pick and choose.
Before she had the chance to fire a free blast, a rain of laser shots fell upon her and she shied away momentarily, protecting herself from the sudden shower. When she glanced up, her eyes smoldering, she saw the group of five Power Rangers facing her on the opposite side of the room.
"There's not gonna be a next target this time, Vypra," Carter Grayson - the Red Peppermint Ranger, Ryan teasingly called him - yelled out at her, supposedly trying to intimidate her. It had yet to work. "Get outta here!"
Her dark brown eyes twinkled in amusement at the empty threat, and a smirk soon followed. How glorious it would be for her to watch Ryan mash them into a bloody pulp; she couldn't wait for the moment. "It's only a matter of time before Mariner Bay FALLS to Diabolico!" she retorted easily, playing their little game of words.
The snooty Green Ranger stepped up, and folded his arms across his chest while shaking his head at her. His actions were nearly enough to make her blood boil; they were the same actions he had taken with her and Ryan when he saw them at the flea market months before. "Oh, I know when that'll be...NEVER!" he mocked terribly, and his words were what pushed Victoria over the top.
Her voice came out harsh, a crack of a whip. "ATTACK!"
The plan hadn't been for her to attack the rangers, but to just draw them out into the open for their introduction to the new Titanium Ranger. However, she decided to change the plan a little bit and get into a little squabble with the color-coded defenders of the city. That stupid idiot Joel certainly provoked a fight since he had literally gone about asking for one.
Besides, would Ryan protest to her wearing them down a bit? She doubted it.
Victoria returned her attention to her fight with Carter, watching the delicate movements of his sword to note his next move. He easily knocked her away though, due to her mindset still wavering in thoughts of her lover. She was far too anxious to carry on a serious and intense sword battle.
Studying the team as they regrouped, she saw the Red Ranger move forward once more, taunting her with his sword. Sure, like that thing would scare her. Victoria couldn't help but roll her eyes. "I'm not gonna tell you again. Get outta Mariner Bay!"
"Yeah...forever!" Kelsey chimed out, taking a stand beside Carter. Victoria felt slight revulsion creep through her at the Yellow Ranger's predictable move. Ugh! How she utterly despised those female rangers! They showed no backbone at times...at least, not one that Victoria could see.
She swallowed her revulsion away instantly though, as she could feel the strong magnificent power of the Titanium Ranger close by. Her Ryan would soon show them all what REAL power was. "Wild horses couldn't drag me away," she declared in a pleased tone, slowly darkening it for what she had to say next. "This is the moment I've been waiting for; the moment you meet your match."
As if cued by her words, a blue light began to emanate from the ceiling of the warehouse and hastily grew. Using her arm as a shield from the blinding light, she waited until it dissipated completely to reveal Ryan in all his glory.
Well, to her he was in all his glory. To the rangers, most likely, they'd still be recovering from the initial shock of the Titanium Ranger's arrival.
Ryan rapidly snapped out a pattern of arm movements and took to his normal battle stance, his arms shaking with a deep intensity. His anger and excitement radiated off him like the smell of pineapples did when they were in bed together, and she picked up on all of it.
Oh, how wondrous he'd look stained in their blood...
***
As Ryan laughed at the retreating figures of the Power Rangers, Diabolico appeared on the rooftop beside him, congratulating him on his victory. "Excellent work. I knew you'd be the perfect addition to our team." The two of them turned to face Mariner Bay's skyline. "With your new powers this city will soon be ours."
Ryan nodded his head, his axe swung on his shoulder. "Yes, very soon."
A short silence followed their exchange of words, soon to be filled with the click of Victoria's boots on the ground. Coming up from the bottom level, she sauntered over to where her father and companion stood. "So, I saw the rangers retreating," she commented flippantly. "I take it things went well?"
She came up behind the newly-powered Titanium Ranger and pressed her body tightly against his back, causing a loud groan to emit from Ryan's mouth. If he weren't morphed, he'd be ravaging her with kisses at that very moment; his blood throbbed fervently throughout his body from his victory. Though it didn't involve death and blood like he had hoped for, it was a victory nonetheless. And there was no one he wanted to spend the aftermath of his victory with more than Victoria. "Things went very well, with your aid," he answered passionately, flipping up his visor to gaze hungrily into her eyes.
Victoria laughed merrily as she spotted the primal look his vibrant green eyes that only emerged when he wanted one thing from her. "Father," she quickly ripped her eyes away from Ryan, "you wouldn't mind if we left abruptly, now would you?"
Diabolico shook his head at his two children and gave a throaty laugh. "So long as you do not tire my warrior out, Vypra," he warned teasingly. "He must be ready for the second attack later this afternoon."
"Of course!" she replied rather hastily, and the two lovers almost immediately melted into Victoria's aura, out of Diabolico's sight.
***
The afternoon came quickly, and Ryan was again dispatched into downtown Mariner Bay to wreak havoc so as to draw out the Power Rangers once more. The rangers came running as usual and the battle between the group and him began, Victoria watching the entire scene unfold from her perch atop one of the many buildings surrounding the area.
In the first few minutes, Ryan appeared to have the upper hand in the fight; blasting them over and over again with his weapon. However, in the midst of their losing streak, the Power Rangers pulled out one of their new little weapons; V-Lancers, Victoria had heard them named. The battle suddenly turned into staff combat and that was when Ryan began to falter.
He blocked them with a swift skill - that was to be sure - but his axe didn't seem to stand up to their long stick-like weapons. Sure enough, Carter managed to knock away Ryan's axe from him, the weapon landing a good ten feet away from him.
She studied his form as he eyed his fallen weapon even though the rangers stood lined before him prepared to fire on command. Ryan would go after his axe, and the rangers wouldn't hesitate in firing on him; Victoria could see it in their tense stances. And as the act played out just as she had predicted, she yearned for the chance to interfere in the battle and defend her Titanium Ranger, although she knew she couldn't. It simply wasn't her place.
So, there she stood high above the fight and watched as Ryan grabbed up his axe and aimed it at the rangers, just in time to catch a glimpse of the powerful laser blast from their V-Lancers rushing straight at him. He didn't dare shy away from the attack, and took it head on to his companion's painful dismay.
A fiery explosion followed the blast and an agonizing wince washed over Victoria's features as she saw Ryan's body fly into the air and collapse to the ground heavily. She heard the gasps and awed voices emitted from the five Power Rangers when they saw him slowly pull himself up from the ground. Waves of spite and deep hate ran through her at the noise, her eyes still glued to the Titanium Ranger's fatigued figure as he shakily stood clutching his axe.
For a moment he stared at the Power Rangers vengefully, his visor open due to the force of the explosion. He quickly turned down the visor and stomped towards them, aiming his axe, ready to fire. The rangers tried to warn him off, but he wouldn't be swayed. Ryan was unaccustomed to losing and he wasn't about to become accustomed to it right then either.
The rangers rose their V-Lancers again and this time, a trembling fear swept through Victoria as she looked on. Ryan wouldn't be able to take another hit. If she was fighting them, she could handle five or six more hits with the protection of her magic. But he didn't have magic on his side, he only had his brute strength...and his brute strength was wavering. He continued to press on, taking one step at a time when his legs would allow.
In spite of this unrelenting progression on Ryan's part, the group of five suddenly lowered their weapons and seemed to be arguing with their captain through their helmet comms. The new turn of events immediately brightened Victoria's spirits even further when she saw the group relent, walking away from the fight entirely.
Ryan fell to his knees in the rubble of the melee, his hands desperately grasping out toward the five retreating figures. "We're not finished!" He cried out in anguish. "COME BACK!"
As if scoffing at his words, the Red Ranger turned momentarily and looked back at him, then turned away and walked off with the rest of the Power Rangers.
Once they were out of sight, Victoria jumped down from the building and ran frantically to Ryan's side. "They nearly killed you," she stated in a growling manner, slipping his arm around her body so that she could help him stand.
"I was supposed to nearly kill THEM!" he snapped back furiously, letting her help him up from the ground. "They should have finished me off...I utterly failed."
Victoria shook her head vigorously. "You did not fail," she restated persistently. "It is a stand-off; both sides are in control right now."
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Ryan scoffed at her, shifting his weight so that it wasn't solely on her. "Because it most certainly doesn't."
"Stop being a spoiled, stubborn brat," she jeered, finally adjusting to how they stood. "We'll go home, I'll heal you, and you'll have your day soon enough." With her last words, the two of them faded away into Victoria's usual blue mist.
***
Many meters below the ocean, Ms. Fairweather stood in the operations of the Aquabase, staring at the monitor before her. One of the many cameras they had posted all around Mariner Bay had just recorded the scene that took place between the Titanium Ranger and Vypra and her natural curiosity was most definitely piqued.
In the small exchange that she had witnessed on the screen, both Vypra and the Titanium Ranger acted far too human-like to be demons. They were very close; like they had some sort of bond. Perhaps they were close friends, or even lovers! No matter what they were to each other, the fact remained that both of them appeared more human than demon.
Ms. Fairweather let herself linger on the thought awhile longer before she pushed it to the back of her mind for future reference, heading towards the conference room to meet up with the rangers and Captain Mitchell.
***
Ryan sat stonily on the bed, staring straight at the brick wall before him. It was already near midnight, but he still couldn't remove his thoughts from the battle that had happened earlier that day. He had failed, no matter what Victoria said. The thought festered in his mind, spawning other angry and depressive thoughts about the rangers, his blood father, Diabolico and even the rare angry thought about his lover. Least to say, he didn't expect sleep to come to him that night.
Victoria re-entered their quarters, carrying plate of chocolate cake in her hands. She closed the door behind her with her bare foot and then began to attack the cake with her fork, swallowing down as much of the dessert she could in one mouthful. Neither of them had been indulged with those kinds of foods until they arrived in Mariner Bay a few months ago and ever since, Victoria had been binging on everything from tapioca pudding to large tubs of pure honey whenever she could - which usually was at night when their father couldn't catch her.
Ryan wondered where she had gotten the sweet treat from at that late of an hour, but he decided against it. If he said something, she'd think he wanted to talk and that was the last thing he wanted her to think. She'd already spent the entire day trying to get him to talk and cheer him up about his loss to the Power Rangers. Even Diabolico had given him a pep-talk of sorts, and that was even more bothersome than Victoria's constant prattle.
He ignored her casually, continuing to glare ahead at the wall.
Out of the periphery of his vision, he saw her move to the other side of the bed and crawl across it to sit directly behind him. The smell of the strong dark chocolate wafted into his nostrils and he nearly gagged. Chocolate was too strong of a sweet for him; he much preferred the lighter taste and smell of vanilla. Victoria knew this as well, yet she asked over his shoulder, "You want some cake?"
Ryan shook his head tersely in response to her question, hoping she would take his hint and leave him be for awhile. However, he had known since earlier that morning that Victoria was extremely moody and noticeably aroused, so he was more than sure she wouldn't be leaving him alone until she got what she wanted from him...and Ryan wasn't in the mood to give her what she wanted, even though he may have been previously.
Victoria whimpered in reply to his rejection, and pressed her body against his back; her breasts crushed against the middle of his back, her lips brushing against his scarred shoulder blades and her arms and legs wound around his stomach.
He fought off the urge to moan to the stimulus he gave her, when he felt something different against him. Strangely enough, he could feel her stomach through the silky green material of her nightgown at the small of his back, which he usually never felt. He had felt it there against him in the morning when he had been morphed also, but had tossed the thought aside. Now that he could feel it again, Ryan wondered if Victoria had been lacking in her training and putting on weight from all the sweets she had been eating. If Father knew about that, he wouldn't be happy at all with her.
She slowly began to work her tongue against his shoulder, and this time he couldn't resist the urge and he moaned lowly. Ryan felt her grin into his flesh at his response and he quickly snapped, "Victoria, no; not tonight."
"You're making a big deal out of nothing," she huffed, pulling herself away from him and returning to her cake that she had set on the bed. "Tomorrow is another day; you'll get another chance to kill those rangers." Her eyebrows were furrowed as she pouted, stuffing herself with the chocolate cake - partly hoping Ryan would take pity on her pathetic look and come to her.
He did no such thing.
Ryan sighed depressively, moving from where he sat to crawl underneath the covers of the bed on his side. He lay down on his back and folded his hands behind his head, closing his garnet green eyes. "It's not about killing the rangers anymore."
"It isn't?" Intrigued by the turn in his thoughts, she hastily scooted up the bed and lay beside him on top of the covers with the remains of her cake. "What IS it about then, Ryan?"
"It's about being human, Victoria," he responded, confessing his guts though he really didn't want to. "Do you want to live forever in Skull Cavern, fighting the Power Rangers and continuously training?"
"Who says we're going to be living in Skull Cavern forever and fighting the Power Rangers?" she questioned rhetorically. "It's only a matter of time before we defeat the rangers and reclaim Mariner Bay for Father...and besides, don't tell me you don't love our training! We get stronger everyday, gaining new abilities-"
"Don't you feel it being monotonous though? We do the same things everyday!"
He now lay on his side, facing Victoria and waiting expectantly for her reply. "After thirteen years of the same routine, you finally say you have tired of it?!" She glanced at him skeptically. "What ideas this melancholy mood has brought out in you!"
Ryan shook his head, sitting up in the bed and staring down at his companion. "Don't you ever wish we could live like normal people, Victoria? Like those people we attack everyday in Mariner Bay?" His voice rose anxiously, his true thoughts pouring out of him. "Don't you wish for more than the closed life we carry on here?!"
"That's the point, Ryan!" Victoria retorted, trying to bring him back down into reality: her reality. "We ATTACK those normal people you want to be like! The fact is we aren't normal; we are SPECIAL! Diabolico chose us because we were destined to fulfill a prophecy...a GREAT prophecy that needs us still!"
He blinked at her a few times, his thoughts clearing from his mind and allowing back in the warrior mentality that had been instilled in him from a young age. "You're right," he agreed softly, cupping her cheek in his hand. "I will kill the Power Rangers tomorrow; it is another day."
Satisfied with his normal thoughts returning to him, the crazy ones fleeing, Victoria took his palm to her lips and gently kissed it in reassurance.
***
As Victoria told him, the next day turned out to be another day; another opportunity to get back at the Power Rangers and Ryan took full advantage of it.
Striding down the streets of Mariner Bay, blasting away at anything in his path and waiting for the rangers to show...it was a tedious job, but someone had to do it. He was more than willing to do it, but he just wished they would show soon; patience was never his forte. He preferred action and movement to anything else.
So he was quite overjoyed when the Pink Ranger - his little sister - eventually appeared, stopping him from shooting an innocent citizen.
Innocent.
The word caused a little twitch in his thoughts, as if there was a battle going on inside of his mind over the very word. Ryan quickly shook off the feeling and returned his gaze to his sister, approaching her in the wide courtyard.
He pointed at her menacingly and forcefully, his hot and fierce voice rushing from the confines of his mouth. "It's you! After all these years, I've been waiting to meet you again." He growled deeply, literally seething venom. "I finally get to pay you back, Sister..." Quickly, Ryan raised his blaster and fired several shots upon the younger girl sending her tumbling.
Hungrily, Ryan pressed the fight on and chased after her with his axe. Since forever he had longed for revenge, and it finally seemed to be all falling into place. His plans were going to be fulfilled.
He swung his axe down on her sword, knocking his sister to her knees while the blade of his axe remained locked with her sword, pressing down on her. "No brother of mine could be as evil as you are," she spat hastily, pushing against his weight.
"You're right," Ryan easily agreed in a spiteful tone, watching her quiver underneath his obviously stronger power. "Unless his father let him fall from a cliff to save his younger sister!"
He released his axe from her blade and they continued to fight on, a new resolve pushing him on. Who was the more evil one? Was it he, who only sought the proper revenge that deserved upon these cruel people? Or was it her, who spat lies into his face and had taken his entire life from him?
As they kept going, it became fairly apparent that Ryan had and kept the upper hand in the one on one battle from the beginning all the way through. He was a warrior of course, and he had trained all of his life for moments like the one he was caught up in at that very second.
Gradually, Dana tired and with a neat blow from Ryan, she collapsed a few feet away from him, panting furiously. He chuckled at her weak state, slinging his axe on his shoulder casually. "Ryan," she called to him, still trying to catch her breath, "Father didn't LET you fall; there was nothing he could do!"
He slowly felt his blood begin to boil. Would this girl ever realize that he refused to swallow her damned lies?! He threw down his axe, pointing it directly into the Pink Ranger's face. "But you're the one who survived that night on the cliff," he replied in a succinct and clear fashion.
"But now it's over, Ryan." She spoke softly, only loud enough for him to hear. He stopped for a moment, listening to how she said his name. She didn't say it like Victoria did. Victoria said it...well, she said it like he thought a lover would. But Dana's way was different; and for a moment, he liked that difference.
But Ryan instantly shook off the feeling, returning to his agenda at hand. He was going to kill her; destroy her. He couldn't suddenly feel sentiments for the sister that stole his entire existence from him; things just didn't work that way. "It's over for you..." He trailed off menacingly, switching his axe back into its blaster mode.
He kept his blaster trained on her for many seconds, but for some reason unknown to him, Ryan found that he couldn't pull on the trigger. His burning eyes remained glued to her as she slowly stood up from the ground. "He loved you," she insisted in a pleading voice, Ryan trying to not give into her ploy as she tried to force-feed him her lies. "You wanted to grow up to be a fireman, just like him!"
In the back of his mind, he could feel a soft hum cutting through the fog of his early childhood memories. The hum slowly progressed to become louder and louder, until his efforts to block it all out became completely vain. "QUIET!" He screamed, partly at Dana and partly at the sound in his head.
Ryan continued to struggle with the hum, when he heard Dana's voice momentarily cut through. "What's wrong with you?!" He felt her throw herself onto his blaster, taking hold of his arm and shaking him a bit. "Don't you remember anything?"
Unexpectedly, the hum stopped and fog cleared in his mind; a few solitary memories flashed through his mind. "I remember..." he whispered delicately, his head bowed.
"RYAN! DON'T!"
He was knocked out of his brief lapse and snapped his head around to see the other four Power Rangers running toward him and Dana; the Red Ranger's voice being the one he heard.
Utterly startled and frightened by what had just taken place between him and his sister, Ryan reverted into his comfortable and safe warrior mode and gave Dana a good swift kick to the gut and hit to the back, pushing her aside. Once she was out of his way, the confused Titanium Ranger began to frantically run through the courtyard, away from them all.
***
The minute she saw Ryan run, Victoria knew something was most definitely wrong with her companion. He needed her, but he didn't need those five rangers following him.
Borrowing one of Jinxer's monsters from him, she hastily confronted the Power Rangers, giving them Liztwin to tango with while she went searching for Ryan. First, she went back to Skull Cavern, assuming he had returned there to sulk or do whatever it was he was going to do there. When she found no trace of him there, she went back into Mariner Bay and eventually found him on the outskirts of the city, along with the rangers AND his blood father. "Do they have a homing beacon on him?" She growled angrily, standing on one of the little hills around where they stood below her. Her expression instantly switched from annoyance to shock when she realized two things: one, Ryan wasn't morphed and two, he wasn't fighting them at all. "What the hell is he doing down there?!"
Her shock expanded into horror when she saw the glimmering silver-blue object that was his morpher fall from his wrist. "RYAN!?!?!" she shrilled, not caring just who heard or saw her at that moment. He was giving up his morpher?! HE WAS GIVING UP HIS MORPHER! He wasn't supposed to do that...WHY WAS HE DOING THAT?!
Her deep brown eyes, which were as wide as saucers, spied the entire group below glancing up at her. Though they were far away, she could see the confusion on their faces wondering just what she was doing there...except for Ryan. Ryan's bright green eyes seemed to be glaring daggers at her from where he stood.
Victoria's heart nearly stopped beating at the sight of his face.
She watched as he looked away from her and began to run up the side of the hill to her, the Power Rangers and his blood father also watching his every step as he climbed up towards her. "What were you doing down there?" she asked casually as he soon joined her at the top of the dirt hill, trying to forget the nasty look he had given her.
"I could ask you the same thing." He glowered, meeting her face with a cold and stony gaze.
Few things actually frightened Victoria, and the way Ryan was acting right then became one of those things she did fear. She had never seen him that way before, at least not directed towards her, and it truly scared her. "Did I do something?" she questioned, her voice wavering slightly.
Ryan glanced back down at the six people below still staring at the two of them, then forcefully grabbed her arm and dragged her away from their view. "I don't want them watching us," he stated blatantly, then returned to answering her former question. "You LIED to me, Victoria!" He growled loudly, his fingers squeezing tightly around her arms. "You and Diabolico LIED to me!"
"How?" was the only thing she could get out of her throat.
"I remember how I was taken away that night when I first came to live with you," Ryan sneered in her face, jerking her close to him; his anger had completely taken over and he was starting to loose all control. "Diabolico did save my life, but he STOLE me away from my family. My father wanted me all along, and you made me believe that he didn't! YOU LIED TO ME!"
Tears were streaming down Victoria's face for the first time in fifteen years while he yelled at her. "I didn't know!" She bawled persistently, clutching him tightly. "My mother...abandoned me with Diabolico at the first chance! We were poor and we stole for our survival. I thought...I THOUGHT my mother loved me, but she didn't!" Victoria took in a deep breath before continuing. "She GAVE me to him without a second thought...she didn't WANT me! I thought the same had happened to you!"
Ryan's anger instantly dissipated at the sight of the woman's tears and turned into awe, as she cried openly in front of him for the first time in her life. She was now on her knees, clinging to his legs and sobbing. "I have to leave Skull Cavern," he slowly voiced after many long minutes filled solely with her sobs. "I can't stay with Diabolico...not when I know the truth."
"NO! YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME ALONE!" Her scream echoed around them as she pulled herself up from her knees and gazed intently at him with her red, wet eyes.
"I have to," he said solemnly, refusing to meet her gaze.
"LOOK AT ME!" Victoria commanded desperately, grabbing his face in her hands and forcing him to look at her directly. She didn't even think twice before letting the words fly out of her mouth, "Ryan, I NEED YOU! I LOVE YOU! YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME!"
Ryan simply gawked at her for a long moment, totally stunned and taken aback by her sincerity and frankness. Out of fourteen years of companionship he had spent with the woman before him, it was in that moment when he realized just how he felt for her; her declaration of love triggered the emotions hidden deep inside of him to gradually surface and need to be seen. "I love you, Victoria," he replied tenderly, cupping her tear-streaked cheek with his hand.
At his response, Victoria pulled herself to his chest and buried her face there, her sobs at last slowing. Ryan removed her stupid armored crown from her head and threw it aside, running his hands freely through her soft hair - cherishing its feel - and leaned his chin against the top of her head.
He knew he would have to leave her in the long run, as much as he didn't want to. He couldn't stay with Diabolico a day longer, not with his memory intact the way that it was. And she wouldn't leave Diabolico for him, no matter how much she said she loved him. Ryan's family waited for him in Mariner Bay, while Victoria's only real family was Diabolico. He was still HER father, even if Ryan no longer viewed him as that.
But they both knew that they loved each other, and Ryan desperately hoped that that would be enough to keep them together - no matter which side they were on.
***
"...none of that matters. The past is gone; forgotten!"
"I remember it all too clearly."
Victoria stood in the shadows of the gathering room in Skull Cavern, studying the final confrontation between her lover and father. Ryan was being spiteful, pulling away from it all. Diabolico was being tempting, reminding the man before him of all that he could give. But at last, she knew that Ryan would win the fight; perhaps his first and last win against Diabolico at all.
"Stay here and your future will be to follow in my footsteps. Master, ruler of the Dark Kingdom!"
"Never," Ryan spat coldly, turning his back and walking into the shadows that lead out of the room.
Diabolico strained for one last effort to keep Ryan from walking away from him. "Do not walk away from me..." he warned in his threatening voice. When Ryan didn't stop his progression towards the exit, the monster pressed on his with threat. "You'll pay for this. Mark my words, Ryan..."
As a last gesture, Ryan faced him for a second and shook his head tersely at the threat made before disappearing into the shadows completely.
"Do you have anything to say about this?" Diabolico glanced towards Victoria, motioning her closer to him.
"He packed his things," she quietly responded, her eyes averting his heavy stare. "He is going to leave."
"And you are not going to stop him?"
Victoria maintained her gaze on the floor of the dark room, shrugging her shoulders ever so slightly. "He's determined to leave. I can't stop him."
All of a sudden, Diabolico grabbed her by the arms viciously and gave her a hard shake, causing her to yelp loudly in surprise. "Since when did you give up so easily?! Don't you want him to stay?!" he barked angrily into her face.
She pulled her face away as far as she could from his, and shut her eyes tightly for a long moment, recomposing herself. "Of course I want him to stay! I need him to stay!" she snapped back, not quite as loud as he had.
Diabolico removed one of his claws from her and pointed towards the shadows where Ryan had just left. "Then go after him!" Letting go of Victoria's arms, he pushed her towards the exit vigorously. "Or are all of those sentimental emotions getting in the way since you proclaimed your "love" for him?"
A shuddered gasp left her body at his expression. He had been watching them on that hill earlier? She spun around fiercely, glaring heatedly at her father. "You were...spying on us?" Victoria rasped sickeningly, clutching her churning stomach with her arm.
"I knew Ryan was wavering," he stated casually, as if was everyday news. "I wasn't about to let him go off into Mariner Bay without keeping an eye on him. You just happened to choose the wrong moment to declare your "feelings", Vypra."
Victoria took a few paces around the room, steadying herself and allowing her mind to take in everything Diabolico had said. "You know what?" she pondered out loud, reaching for her armored crown on top of her head and holding it in her hand. "I AM NOT VYPRA!" She flung the armored crown, letting it skid across the floor. She began to roam the room in a hasty and frantic fashion, her eyes darting left and right. "Maybe Ryan was right about leaving here...maybe I should go too...maybe-"
Her rambling was cut short when Diabolico wrapped his hand around her neck and lifted her a good two feet off the ground. Swiftly, he tossed her from his grip and into one of the pillars. Her back hit the pillar and she let out a piercing cry, grunting as she fell a good three feet before she eventually came in solid contact with the ground once more.
He waited until she slowly raised her head, blood dripping quietly from a large bruise on the back of her head as well as from her split lip. "If you weren't-"
"I know." She groaned painfully, licking her lower lip carefully. "I was asking for that and you were right in doing so...I'm sorry, Father. I didn't mean to talk back to you; I didn't mean to be disobedient."
Diabolico nodded, satisfied that his actions had curved her waywardness. "Of course you didn't," he agreed. Moving over to where her broken body lay, he picked Victoria up and cradled her in his large arms. "Now, what shall you do for me once you have healed yourself, Vypra?"
She looked at him through her half-lidded eyes, drowsy with pain. "I'll find Ryan and bring him back home to me, no matter what it takes..."
"Very good," he complimented her, taking her away from the gathering room and back to her quarters to rest.
The only remnants of Victoria and Diabolico's squabble in the gathering room sat in a small shadowy corner next to the pillar she had been thrown against.
An armored crown lying in a small, drying pool of crimson blood.
