Norman, Silver, Purple, Gaby, and any others you don't recognize are mine.
Rated PG-13 : Harsh language; violence; strong sexual references.
Reviews are appreciated, please take a moment to leave one.
A/N: This story and 'Connections' take place at the same time, and I am posting them at the same time. They are separate but related stories, and can be read together or separately.
It had been a long day. Eric pulled into the driveway of his house with an inner sigh of relief. He smiled briefly at Gaby as he switched off the ignition, feeling the engine shudder as it stopped.
"Time for a new car," Gaby said absently. She popped her seat belt off and pushed her door open.
"This one still runs."
"Still, it's so old. Why not get a better one? You can afford it."
He got out, looking up at the twilit sky, a hint of rosy color in the distance, the moon low and almost full, before glancing at her over the car roof. "You sound like Wes. I don't need a new car."
She smiled, shook her head, and murmured, "Stubborn..."
Eric ignored that and circled the car to join her. Together, they headed for the front door. He noticed another automobile out of the corner of his eye, coming down the street, slowing and pulling over. It wasn't familiar, didn't belong to any of his neighbors. With the instincts of a soldier -- and a Silver Guardian -- he was aware of it with a part of his mind as they went up the walkway.
"I'll bet there's no food in your house. I knew we should have gone shopping," she said.
"We can order in pizza or Chinese."
"I'm so tired of both of them."
"We could go out later, I guess."
"Unless you feel like starving. But I'll miss Enterprise. I wish you had a VCR."
"Nag, nag, nag," he grumbled, feeling in his pocket for his keys.
She turned to face him. "Why don't you go for takeout? I'll stay here."
"You know I can't leave you alone."
She sighed. "I know," she said, leaning against the wall with an attitude of depression. He saw her look past him, to the street. Saw her face stiffen with alarm, saw her eyes widen.
Without conscious thought, he pushed her down, dropping to crouch in front of her, a glance toward the street showing him a man, probably from that unfamiliar car, standing at the end of his walkway, his hair glimmering silver in the evening light, his hand rising, a glint of metal --
"Look out!" Eric shouted, ducking. A beam of energy shot at them, hitting the door above them, sending explosive sparks flying, the noise blending with Gaby's scream. His hands came up, not to shield himself, but to bring the morpher close to his face, and he was shouting...
"Quantum Power!" The light flashed over him, sparkling, sending a rush of energy and power through him, giving him that one moment when he felt invincible, untouchable, when nothing could stop him. As it faded he pushed up to one knee, his clothes replaced by the red and black Quantum Ranger suit, already pulling his blaster, the Quantum Defender, from its holster.
Another instant saw his return beam strike its target. The man threw up an arm to cover his head, and staggered back. But he didn't fall. He lowered his arm again and grinned at them. And took a step forward.
"Give it up, Norman!" Eric shouted. "You're not getting her!"
"I'll do what I want, you can't stop me. And you can call me Mutant Master now."
Eric laughed, despite the danger he knew they were in. "Mutant Master? You can't even come up with a good name, Norman."
"You'll never laugh at me again!" Norman stepped forward, stiff with anger.
Eric got to his feet, put out a hand, and pulled Gaby to her feet. "Get into the house," he hissed. "Lock the door."
"Eric..." She looked at him, eyes wide and round.
"It's okay. Just go." He opened the door, pushed her through, and turned back to the enemy.
"No cyclobots this time, Norman?" Eric asked, his voice mocking. "Going to do your own fighting?"
"I've gone beyond cyclobots. Way beyond." Eric could see a glint of white teeth and the flash of silvery eyes as he smiled. He beckoned. Two forms detached themselves from the shadows and stepped close to him, to stand on either side. "These aren't the kind of robots you've come up against before," Norman continued.
Eric looked more closely as the two figures moved into the light. His eyes widened. They were robots -- but certainly like nothing he had seen before. They were both wearing clothing, form-fitting silvery-gray suits that left their arms bare. They seemed almost human, with cold, hard-looking faces instead of the round helmets of the cyclobots. But their skins were gleaming metallic surfaces, one silver, one a pale purple. With an inner shiver, Eric recognized those artificial faces. They were both Norman. His face, in metal, on a robotic body.
"Creating them in your own image now?" Eric asked.
"That's right. Not only physically, either." Norman glanced at his companions and smiled again. "Go on and introduce yourselves."
"My name is Silver," the first one said, in a voice identical to Norman's.
"And I'm Purple," the other one added in the same voice.
Eric gasped, unable to hide his shock. "They can talk?" he exclaimed.
"They can talk, they can think, they can fight. Allow me to demonstrate." Norman grinned at him again, a twisted expression of hatred. "Get him, boys," he said softly.
The two robots started forward slowly, the streetlights glimmering off their metal skins, outlining them in shimmers of silver and violet. Eric had the absent thought that they were really quite beautiful. And almost certainly quite deadly. He raised his blaster.
"Just hold it right there."
They stopped, but only for a moment. Then they separated, moving toward either side, swiftly slipping into the shadows under the trees around his house. They moved with quicksilver speed, coming at him, leaping onto the sides of his porch before he could react. He let Ranger-enhanced reflexes take over and fired, hitting Silver at close range, ducking under Purple's fist and ramming him in the middle with a shoulder.
The next moment Eric was staggering back, reaching for his shoulder with the other hand. That impact with hard metal had hurt… the purple robot landed on his back, but was already rolling to his feet. A glance at Silver stunned him, the metal man was smiling at him, apparently unhurt by the blast that had hit him.
"You can't stop us that easily," he said softly.
Eric raised the Defender's power and fired again, hitting Purple point-blank as he charged forward, and having the satisfaction of seeing him double over and lurch back, his face contorting in what looked like pain. Another instant and he had whipped the weapon around, but Silver was already on him, grabbing his wrist with superhuman strength, hard enough to make him gasp. They struggled for a few seconds, until Eric kicked out, driving the robot back, then twisted his arm free and leaped into a tornado kick that hit his opponent's head.
It was only a momentary victory, as he landed purple arms encircled his waist, lifting him and tightening until he felt his ribs creak. Eric jerked his head back, smashing his helmet into the robot's face, then aimed the Defender back over his own shoulder and fired. He tumbled to the porch, free but shaken and weakened. The realization struck him that he was in a serious fight. One he wasn't going to win on his own.
But there was no time to call for help… he tried to shield himself as Silver dived down on him, grabbing his wrist again, twisting it painfully and this time yanking the Defender out of his grip. As he tried to get up, he saw it in the robot's hand, aiming at him, then the flash as it fired, hitting him with a wave of electric pain, his muscles contracting as it burned through him.
The silver robot stepped closer, aiming directly at his head. Eric pushed up onto his elbows, the blaster right in his face. The Defender was set to full power. He knew at such close range, the blast would injure him, perhaps kill him, even with the suit. It would certainly demorph him, and leave him helpless and vulnerable.
Just for an instant, Silver seemed to hesitate. And it was enough time for Eric to act. He pulled a knee up and kicked out, hitting the robot's elbow and knocking the blaster from his hand. Purple dived for it, Eric grabbed at it, and they wrestled, ending when Eric twisted around to kick the robot in the chest, and yanked his blaster free.
He rolled up to his knees, saw a flash from the corner of his eye, too late to dodge as Norman's blaster beam struck him. This time it was too much for his suit, he saw the warping sparkle and felt the current of shock as he demorphed painfully, and slid back onto the porch deck.
"Kill him!" Norman's voice rang from the street.
The two robots moved forward. "Sorry," Purple said, kneeling, putting out a hand, his fingers closing around Eric's throat. "Nothing personal..." They tightened, as Eric stared up into that gleaming face, seeing no emotion, no mercy there.
He managed to raise his hands and grab the metal wrist, and gasped, "Don't..."
Again, there was that hesitation, as the grip around his neck loosened. Then there was another flash. All of them looked up and the two robots ducked as a beam shot over Eric, the air glowing red as it was superheated by the energies flowing through it. It struck the door and then washed over the wall, leaving a trail of growing flames behind. Purple let go, and he and Silver stood up and took a step back. They both looked at Eric, then exchanged an eerily human glance, before turning to run down the walkway to rejoin their master.
Eric stared after them, dazed, and lifted his arm to his face, calling into his morpher. "Wes! Jen!" He could hear his voice trembling. "Help me!"
"Eric?" Wes's voice answered, echoed a moment later by Jen's. "What's wrong? Where are you?"
"My house! We need help!" More of his strength was returning. He dragged himself away from the fire.
"He's alive!" Eric heard Norman's voice, and turned his head to see the mutant advancing up the walkway toward him, Silver and Purple at his back. "Get him! Do it right this time!"
There was no time to deal with them, not with Gaby inside a burning house. Eric rolled to the edge of the porch, and off, landing on the grass. In another second he was slipping around the side of the building, under cover of shadows and smoke. He reached the back door and started to open it. A hand reached out to take his arm, startling him. He whirled, only to see Gaby, the cage holding his pet birds in her other hand.
"What happened? Are you all right?" she exclaimed, her voice low.
"Fine. You have to get out of here. I called Wes and Jen."
"I called the Guardians."
"Good." But it could be a problem, if Norman and his helpers attacked them… "Go on. Go to my neighbors. Ask them to hide you."
"Aren't you coming?" They looked up as a small, one-person aircraft swept over them, swiftly descending in front of his house.
"No. I have a fight to finish."
"But…"
"Don't worry, I'll be fine. Go on."
Quickly Eric rounded the corner, uncomfortably close to the fire spreading across the front wall of his home, to see a tense confrontation. Wes and Jen were out of their flyers, standing side by side, blasters in their hands. Norman, Silver, and Purple were standing in the street, Norman pointing his blaster, the two robots flanking him. It looked like nothing so much as an old-fashioned shootout.
"Where's Eric?" Wes was demanding.
"Probably frying inside that house," Norman sneered.
"Wrong. I'm right here." Eric moved so they could see him, Wes and Jen glancing at him quickly and then back at their enemies.
"Don't you ever die?" Norman yelled, raising his blaster. Twin beams from Wes and Jen struck him, sending him staggering back, his weapon falling to the street. As he looked up, face contorted with rage, they all could hear sirens in the distance.
"Wes, come on!" Jen started forward, opening fire again, Wes right behind her. Eric knew they wanted to weaken their opponents as much as possible, reduce the chances of the Guardians being hurt in the fight coming up. He advanced a few steps, uncertainly, not sure he could do anything useful unmorphed and weaponless. A series of bursts from Wes and Jen drove Norman back, but Silver stepped forward and retrieved the fallen blaster.
Then he was firing back, aiming at Jen. Wes stepped in front of her, taking the shot, with no time to recover before Purple ran forward and leaped at him. They tumbled to the grass, rolling as they struggled. Jen was in the air, jumping to hit Silver solidly in the chest with a kick. The robot staggered back. She pursued, a spin kick striking him in the arm, sending the blaster flying out of his hand. A quick backhanded blow kept the robot off-balance long enough for her to hook a foot behind his ankle and shove him down. She stepped back, aimed her blaster, and shot him as he started to get up.
A glance showed Wes doing well also, he rolled onto one knee and side-kicked Purple viciously in the face, then brought up the blaster still in his hand and fired. The robot fell back, Wes pivoted, knocking him over with another hard kick, and flattened him with another blast.
Jen was moving again, dashing swiftly toward Norman. She reached him and kicked out. But he was too fast; he fell back a few steps but then grabbed her, pinning her arms to her sides. She kicked at him again, and he snarled and twisted her arms behind her back. She wrenched free and punched at his face. He caught her arms again, pulling her against him, and she brought up a knee forcefully, sending him staggering back, doubled over.
A line of black SUVs sped up the street and skidded to a stop, Guardians spilling out and taking up positions behind the shelter of their vehicles. More blasts sizzled through the air, driving Silver and Purple back to stand beside their master. Eric started forward again, only to feel a hand tug on his arm, and saw Gaby behind him.
"Give up, Norman!" Wes shouted, stepping forward.
"Let's get out of here!" Norman cried. The three of them turned and ran back to their car in a shower of blaster fire. Wes and Jen ran after them, then raced back to their flyers as the car started up and sped off. They lifted into the sky and quickly disappeared, as Norman's car vanished into the traffic of a larger street a few blocks away.
"Silver and Purple? What were they?" Jen was pacing, her face harsh and worried. They were in a small common room in the Silver Guardians' barracks. It was several hours after the attack, late into the night. Wes returned his attention to Eric, who was looking both exhausted and on edge, and Gaby, who seemed understandably upset. She had hardly said a word since the fight, standing silently as they watched the firefighters work to save Eric's house, then quietly coming with them to Bio-Lab.
"Norman's made some improvements on the cyclobots," Eric said. "They were -- almost human. But strong. One of them took a full-power blast from the Defender at close range and was only knocked down."
"Damn," Jen muttered.
"Too bad we couldn't catch them. They disappeared in traffic. We never got a good enough look at that car to be able to spot it," Wes added.
"Yeah, too bad. Wish I could have helped." Eric paused, his face thoughtful. "I said they seemed almost human. Not just the way they looked. They could talk, too. And -- they seemed like they could think for themselves." He looked up at Wes and Jen. "Norman ordered Purple to kill me. He could have. Could have crushed my neck in an instant. But he let go."
"Robots with a conscience?"
"Maybe. But I don't think I'd count on it."
Wes and Jen exchanged a glance. "Still, good to know," she said. "Maybe we can use it to our advantage."
"Hope so." Eric glanced at Gaby.
"Eric." Wes waited for Eric to look up. "I think we need to get Gaby somewhere safer."
"I think so too," Jen said. "She was the target. Norman may get her next time."
"You're right," Gaby said, startling him with the steadiness of her voice. "I'm the one he's after. If I'm gone, maybe he'll leave you alone." She took a deep breath. "I'll get out of town. Disappear. Wes, your father can help me get a new identity…"
"Wait a minute," Eric said. "I'm not letting that freak chase you away like that. We can take care of him."
She turned to him, her face suddenly filled with a mixture of anger and pain. "No! He almost killed you tonight, because of me! He could have killed Wes or Jen! Your house could have burned down!"
"But he didn't kill anyone. And insurance will pay for the house. It wasn't that badly damaged."
"That's not the point! I don't want anyone else hurt because of me!"
"It's not your fault that jerk has a crush on you."
"Maybe I should just let him have what he wants."
"Are you crazy?" Eric was shouting now, his face flooding with anger. As Gaby flinched away from him, he lowered his voice. "Norman's always going to want something he can't have. Do you think you'd make him happy? That you'd reform him? Nothing's going to do that. The only thing that'll stop him is force."
She had gone back to staring at the floor. "Well -- what did you have in mind, Wes?"
"Eric, you've been talking about trying to find your biological father. Why don't you do it? Take Gaby with you. Don't tell anyone else where you're going, pay cash for everything. You'd be out of town, in a place where most people won't recognize you. Norman shouldn't be able to find you."
"What? I've never run away from a fight in my life. I don't intend to leave you and Jen to fight them alone."
"The two of us did okay against them tonight."
"They did a pretty good job of kicking my ass." Eric's voice was bitter.
"It was three against one, and you're still recovering from your injuries. We can handle them."
"I don't know..."
"Look, you want Gaby to be safe, don't you? Then go with her. If anything happens, we'll call you with the morphers. Canela Beach isn't far, with your flyer, in an emergency, you can be back here in -- what? -- ten or fifteen minutes?"
"Could be ten or fifteen minutes too long."
Wes sat on the end of the sofa to look into Eric's face. "I know you want to stay and fight. But all of this has been hard on both of you. Jen and I can take care of ourselves. And we have the Guardians to back us up. Why not let us help you for once?"
Eric looked at Gaby again. "What do you think?"
"Whatever you say." That sad, defeated look was on her face again.
"This is your choice too." He reached for her hand. "You're not going to just lie down and give up because of Norman, are you?"
She looked up, a hint of the old sparkle in her eye. "Lie down for him? No way." She smiled and tightened her grip on Eric's hand. "Maybe it's a good idea. Maybe it could even be a little like a vacation."
"Sure." He looked back up at Wes. "So that's it. We'll stay here in the barracks tonight and leave tomorrow."
"Good. We'd better get going, it's late and we're all tired." He and Jen started out, hands reaching to each other.
"Wes, Jen," Eric called after them. "Be sure to call me if anything happens."
"We will, if we can't handle it on our own," Jen said with a look back.
"But who knows? Maybe this time, we won't need your help," Wes added with a grin.
TBC...
