"Power Rangers: Psycho Matrix"
Book Two: "Twisted Element"
Chapter 2: "Nasty Girls"
Disclaimer: Zordon, Dimitria, and the Psycho Rangers are not mine at all. Psycho Silver is only half mine, as I came up with the idea for his civilian form, but his Ranger form in Power Rangers in Space was only a disguise for Zhane, the Silver Ranger. Everything else is strictly mine.
Author's note: As you may have noticed, the plot of "Psycho Matrix" is more linear than those of most PR series. I was inspired by cmar's A/U retelling of the Time Force series, so keep in mind that every chapter will be geared toward the main plot. No miscellaneous one-shots that don't actually advance the plot or development of the characters here.
Having resumed control of her body, Kaitlyn went down to the infirmary to see Tsukimaru. True to what Dimitria had said, he was recovering quite nicely. By the end of the day, no one would be able to tell he'd been injured at all.
"Hey, Kait," Tsukimaru said, smiling wryly.
"Hey yourself, Tsuki," Kaitlyn replied. She pulled up a chair next to him.
"Did you get 'em?" Tsukimaru asked.
"The Kirai Rangers?" Kaitlyn deduced. "It came to a standstill, and the Kirai Rangers left. Figured they'd beaten us up enough and didn't feel like doing anymore."
"I'm sorry," Tsukimaru said.
"Why?" Kaitlyn asked. "For trying to protect me and Yellow? Nothing you should be sorry for, really. Not your fault she's so stubborn."
"I understand," Tsukimaru said. "It's hard, isn't it, learning how to let yourself trust others to help you."
"But she and the other Psychos worked together long before being merged with us," Kaitlyn contended.
"Yeah, but she was never particularly close to them then, and she still isn't now," Tsukimaru replied.
Kaitlyn took Tsukimaru's hand. "She really does regret what happened to you, though."
"I know," Tsukimaru said. He brought her hand up to his lips and gently kissed it. Kaitlyn blushed a faint pink. "Sorry."
"Don't be," Kaitlyn said. "I'm actually flattered."
Tsukimaru smiled, blushing slightly.
Meanwhile, on the Kirai warship, Kanika had brought Kokure, her lieutenants, and the Kirai Rangers together.
"You did a good job today, Kirai Rangers," Kanika said.
"Thank you, Princess Kanika," Kirai Red replied, bowing humbly.
"We did more than good," Kirai Pink said. "We beat them shitless!"
"And did you see what I did to the traitor?" Kirai Yellow added in maliciously gleeful tones. "Oh, that was just too glorious, how Psycho Yellow was practically crying over him!"
"Yes, I did see," Kanika replied.
Yuna was grateful for the helmet that hid her face. That way, no one else on this ship could see the tears that were threatening to escape her eyes.
"It's his own fault, Yuna," Kokure sneered. "He chose to throw in with the Rangers, so he will just have to share their fate."
Kirai Blue chuckled nastily. "Don't tell me you're actually in love with that traitor."
It was then that Yuna lost her temper. She withdrew the Kirai Glaive and viciously slashed the hateful Blue Ranger.
"Miserable bitch!" Kirai Blue snarled, getting up off the floor. He withdrew his Kirai Tomahawk and moved to strike her with it when an invisible force grabbed them both and slammed them into opposite walls.
"Enough," Kanika snarled. "We do not have time for this infighting nonsense. Now is the time for us to plan our next attack." She smiled. "Kirai Rangers, do you remember if you ever had a sixth member?"
"Yes, we remember having a sixth," Kirai Black said. "After we were defeated, the gem she was sealed in was shattered by the Prism Rangers and its pieces were scattered throughout the universe."
"Terrific," Xaran muttered. "Just terrific."
"Not all hope is lost, though," Kanika countered. "Kokure, sister, what have you been working on since we first came to this planet?"
"Check it out," Kokure replied. She flipped open the lid covering a computer console and tapped on a few buttons, revealing what looked like a map of several galaxies.
"What good does stargazing do us?" Kirai Red asked.
"Check this out, my dark flame master," Kokure replied. "I've been astral-projecting across the galaxies, searching for a mysterious power source. On our way here, we passed through several galaxies. I felt a strange power coming from a planet we passed."
"And what was that planet's name?" Kirai Pink asked.
"Onyx," Kokure replied. "Refuge to all interstellar criminals."
"Why should we waste our time with low-bred scum like them?" Xaran asked sneeringly.
"Because if what my sister says is true," Kanika replied, "then Onyx is our best shot at getting those fragments."
"Fine," Xaran conceded.
Back in the Neji Chamber, Dimitria called the Psycho Rangers sans Tsukimaru together.
"What is it, Dimitria?" Kieran asked.
"Rangers, I must tell you something important," Dimitria said. "When the Kirai Rangers were first active three millennia ago, they had a sixth member. She was the most powerful and most vicious of them all. When the Prism Rangers defeated the Kirai Rangers, they shattered her gem and scattered its fragments. They did this because even with her spirit trapped, they feared that her power would escape its constraints "
"So they shattered the gem to divide that power," Faith finished.
"Exactly," Dimitria confirmed.
"Then we should have no problem, right?" Darien surmised.
"Wrong," Dimitria contradicted. "The shards have been collected by a treasure hunter."
"How do you know this?" Liam asked.
"It pays to have interstellar intelligence," Dimitria replied. "The treasure hunter is currently on the planet Onyx."
"Onyx?" Kaitlyn echoed. "Isn't that planet haven to intergalactic criminals?"
"Again, how do you know this?" Liam asked.
"Search your Psycho self's mind for the information," Kaitlyn replied. "The Psycho Rangers are part of us now, and their memories are ours as well."
"So let's go," Kieran said.
"It is not necessary for the full team to go," Dimitria contradicted. "Faith and Kaitlyn will go to Onyx. The rest of you will stay here in case the Kirai mount any attacks on Earth."
"All right," Faith said. "Time to do some damage. Ready, Kait?"
"Yeah," Kaitlyn said.
The two girls activated their morphers, shouting together, "Psycho Spirit Exchange!"
With a flash of pink and yellow lights, Faith and Kaitlyn were gone, replaced by Psycho Pink and Psycho Yellow.
"Before you depart, I must grant you something you'll find very useful," Dimitria said.
"What?" Psycho Pink asked impatiently.
"Behold," Dimitria replied. A sphere of pink light and a sphere of yellow light descended into the Neji Chamber. The spheres expanded into oval shapes and receded to reveal what looked like high-tech motor scooters. Both "scooters" were black, but one was trimmed in pink and the other in yellow.
"What's wrong with our Slider Bikes?" Psycho Pink asked.
"Those are your Slider Bikes," Dimitria replied. "I took the liberty of making some modifications to them. They are now your Aurora Riders."
Psycho Pink and Psycho Yellow got on their Aurora Riders. "So what can these bad girls do?" Psycho Yellow asked.
"Your Aurora Riders have the same transformational ability that your Slider Bikes did," Dimitria explained. "However, they do not have a 'slider mode.' Instead, they have a 'flight mode.'"
"This is sick," Psycho Pink said, with a smirk of approval in her voice.
"I'm glad you like it so much, Psycho Pink," Dimitria said. "In bike mode, the Aurora Riders can travel at hypersonic speeds, maximum speed being Mach 10. In flight mode, they can achieve warp speed."
"How's that possible in this universe?" Liam asked. "Nothing can survive going that fast."
"Trans-dimensional technology," Dimitria replied. "It will allow the Aurora Riders to shift out of this universe and into an extra-dimensional pocket where faster-than-light acceleration is possible. In addition, you will be able to cloak them, a useful feature for where you're going."
"Yeah, too many criminals who'd love to pick apart Ranger technology and use it to conquer the universe," Psycho Pink said. "Let's go."
The Psycho girls drove out of the Neji Chamber through the hangar where Dimitria kept their vehicles. They accelerated, faster and faster until they broke the sound barrier. Fortunately, they were nowhere near civilization and thus no windows shattered.
"This is so much fun!" Pink shouted.
"For once, you and I agree!" Yellow shouted back. "Now let's check out the flight mode!"
"Aurora Riders, flight mode!" the Psycho girls shouted. Immediately, the Aurora Riders lifted off into the air. The wheels turned on their sides and jagged wings opened up on the Riders.
Psycho Pink and Psycho Yellow soared higher and higher into the sky, reaching escape velocity. Once they achieved escape velocity, they were out in space.
"Cool," Psycho Pink said, admiring the stars.
"Stargaze later," Psycho Yellow replied curtly. "We have to get to Onyx."
"'Let's take a blast to the moon, baby,'" Psycho Pink sang. Then in her normal voice, "Warp speed."
The Psycho girls activated the warp speed option of their Aurora Riders, and accelerated. They went so fast that anyone who could've seen them would have seen two blurs rushing into the farthest point in their field of vision and vanishing in a flash of bright light.
When they emerged from hyperspace, they were approaching the planet Onyx.
"We should park somewhere inconspicuous," Yellow advised. "By now, a good portion of the interstellar underworld is aware that we are now fighting for good."
"Yeah, you're right," Pink agreed. "They're probably gonna want our heads on pikes."
Yellow and Pink landed on Onyx and converted their Aurora Riders to bike mode. Then they activated the cloak option, turning the Riders invisible.
"Disguises ready?" Yellow asked.
"Yeah," Pink replied.
The two Psycho Rangers' forms blurred and distorted until they now looked like cloaked figures in black leather suits that perfectly fit their feminine contours. They walked down the desert road, headed for the first tavern they saw. After all, the underworld taverns were often an excellent source of information, given that you didn't betray your identity as a Ranger or some other intergalactic law enforcer. Then the fighting would commence, and you'd end up having to beat the information out of someone or come away no wiser than you were going in.
Yellow and Pink soon found a tavern and stepped inside. Inside, they saw a good number of patrons of various races and forms. Contrary to what sci-fi fans raised on Star Trek believed, aliens were not merely humanoids who happened to have slightly different skin or facial features. George Lucas, the maker of Star Wars, was slightly closer to the truth, for those aliens had physical peculiarities that couldn't simply be created from makeup. Some of them were barely humanoid at all. However, there were some nonhuman species that very closely resembled humans, and humans who had been born and raised on other planets.
The two female Psycho Rangers sat down at a pair of empty seats. Those seats happened to be adjacent to a creature with eyes which irises were colored navy and which sclera were colored cerulean that looked like he had been created from magma and a bipedal, almost birdlike creature that had blades growing all over his body. Yellow found herself next to the magma-creature, and Pink found herself next to the bladed, bipedal bird-creature.
It didn't take very long, if any time at all, for the bartender, a dragon-humanoid hybrid from the looks of him, to notice the two.
"Hey there, ladies," he said, his voice raspy yet friendly. "Would you like a drink?"
"My friend and I will have ourselves each a glass of Berfokian whiskey," Psycho Yellow said.
"Coming right up," the bartender said.
"You two new in town?" the bladed bird-creature asked.
"Yeah," Psycho Pink replied.
"What'cha do?" the magma-creature asked.
"We're wanted throughout several galaxies for mass murder, destruction of property, grand larceny, and attempted murder," Psycho Pink replied.
"Damn," the magma-creature said, his navy-on-cerulean eyes shining in approval. "You two did all that?"
"Hell, yes," Psycho Yellow replied. "We're very bad girls."
"But we just want information now," Psycho Pink added. "You hear of a treasure hunter who found a bunch of gem shards?"
"Yeah, I heard of her," the bird-creature replied. "Her name's Kalysine, and she's one gal you don't wanna mess with or run into in a dark alley. You see her; you get the hell out of her way, 'cause she'll kill anyone who gets in her way."
"Sounds like my kinda woman," Psycho Pink said, a smirk in her voice.
"Where is she now?" Psycho Yellow asked.
"She's in a tavern about twenty meters from here," the bird-creature replied. He smiled, a frightening thing considering his "mouth" was very much like a sharp beak. "What, you wanna get in on her deal?"
"Something like that," Psycho Yellow replied, getting off her seat. Psycho Pink followed suit. "Thanks for the information, gentlemen. Bye." She grasped Pink's arm and sank into a warp in the floor. They reemerged outside another tavern. "This is it."
The disguised Psycho Rangers entered the tavern.
"Shit," Psycho Yellow murmured. "We forgot to ask those two what Kalysine looked like."
"Looking for me?" a female voice, soft yet hard as steel and cold as ice, asked. The two disguised Psychos turned and saw what looked like a woman, except she was silver. Her skin was a metallic silver color and her hair was silver as well. Her eyes were a blank silvery-white, without iris or pupil.
"You're Kalysine," Psycho Pink said.
"Yes, and I know who you are, too," Kalysine replied. Her lip curled in disgust. "Psycho Rangers."
"Rangers?" a burly alien asked, turning from the bar and glancing at the three women.
"Here?" another one asked, also turning to face them. All around the tavern patrons were getting up and drawing various weapons, regardless of whether those weapons were concealed under their clothes or part of their own bodies.
"What, you wanna assist me in killing these traitors?" Kalysine asked.
The patrons responded by rushing at Pink and Yellow.
"Who knew she was psychic?" Pink replied.
"Screw this," Yellow said, and she and Pink dropped their disguises, revealing their true Ranger identities. In a blur of hyper-fast motion, the Psycho girls defeated most of the patrons. There were a few decent fighters in the bunch, but most of them were nothing more than punks.
Finally, only Kalysine was left. Her silver-white nails extended into very sharp claws.
"Now it's just you and me," she said, smirking.
"Let's do this," Yellow said with a smirk in her voice.
That said, Kalysine lunged at the Psycho Rangers, moving so fast even they were taken unawares. When her initial assault was finished, both Psychos were down, with slash marks in their armor.
"You're fast," Psycho Pink said.
"Thank you," Kalysine replied. "Now let's go again!" She lunged at the Psychos again, aiming to spill their blood this time. However, the Psycho girls were ready and they retaliated in kind. Psycho Yellow fired her sling, and Psycho Pink shot her energy arrows from her bow.
"Want to finish her off?" Psycho Pink asked.
"Yeah," Psycho Yellow said. She and Pink held their weapons in firing position. "Ready?"
"You know it," Pink replied.
"Psycho Sling, Sofia Lightning Strike!" Yellow shouted, firing bolts of golden lightning.
"Psycho Arrow, Jealous Rose!" Pink shouted, using roses as arrows.
The golden lightning wrapped itself around the dark pink roses and both attacks struck as one at Kalysine. It didn't do that much damage when one paused to think about it, but it tore her pouch from her waist and sent it flying. Psycho Yellow caught the pouch.
"I wonder what's inside," she said as she opened the pouch. She pulled out five shards of a silver gem. "Heh. I think that if you put these five shards together, you'd have one whole gem. We'll take these." She took Psycho Pink by the hand and sank into a warp in the floor. They reemerged outside and ran at super-speed for their Aurora Riders.
"Aurora Riders, to us!" they shouted.
The Aurora Riders answered their call and they jumped on. However, intergalactic thugs were chasing them and firing at them while riding bikes of their own. Suddenly, the two Psychos did a tight 180 and drove right at the thugs.
"You up for a game of chicken?" Psycho Pink asked.
The Psycho girls raced at the thugs, closer and closer, until the thugs, cowardly as all two-bit thugs are at heart, tried to get out of their way. It didn't escape the twisted Rangers' notice that the thugs were tripping all over themselves getting out of their way. More often than not, their haste and fear made them bad drivers, and they ended up crashing and burning.
Psycho Yellow looked over her shoulder at the piles of trashed bikes and barely conscious thugs. "Sayonara! It's been a blast!"
When Kanika, Kokure, Yuna, and Xaran got to Onyx, they surveyed the destruction.
"So the Psycho Rangers were here," Kanika said. "Where's the treasure hunter?"
"Miserable bitches," a voice, pained and angry, snarled. The argentine treasure hunter Kalysine stumbled over to the Kirai. "They took . . . my gem shards. . . ."
"Where did they go?" Kokure asked.
"They just warped away," Kalysine replied.
"We'll get the shards," Kanika replied. "And we'll keep them."
"What?" Kalysine shouted, enraged. "That's my treasure! You've got no right " She was interrupted by Xaran's staff at her throat.
"She is the princess of Kirai, the Kirai no Hime, and therefore has plenty of right," he said. "Those shards will help us defeat those who stole the shards." Then he smirked under his helmet. "Would you like to help?"
What do you think you're doing? Kanika asked sharply in Xaran's mind.
Do not worry, princess, Xaran replied. This Kalysine may not be a Kirai, but she is a strong fighter and her acquisitiveness and desire for revenge may be used to our advantage.
Fine, Kanika conceded. But she dies as soon as her usefulness to us is past.
Got it, Xaran replied.
"Of course," Kalysine said, a chilling smile forming on her face.
Psycho Pink and Psycho Yellow had returned to Earth and the Neji Chamber.
"We have the shards," Kaitlyn said upon her human self exchanging places with her Psycho self.
"What now?" Faith asked.
"Be on your guard," Dimitria replied. "The Kirai must surely know by now that you have the gem shards of the sixth Kirai Ranger."
"Sure," Faith said.
"We'll be ready," Kieran said.
"That is good to hear, Kieran," Dimitria said. "In the meantime, depart."
Kieran, Liam, and Darien teleported out in balls of red, blue, and black light. However, Faith and Kaitlyn had stayed.
"What troubles you?" Dimitria asked them.
"You," Faith replied. "You spend all your time here in this chamber. Don't you wish to explore the world?"
"I cannot," Dimitria replied. "My duty lies here."
"Hey, I understand the whole duty thing but it's not right for you to stay cooped up here," Faith countered. "Besides, what's one night out going to do, huh?"
Dimitria paused for thought. "What did you have in mind, Faith?"
"Come on down and you'll see," Faith replied.
After convincing Dimitria to come with them, the three women went out through the city.
"Such wondrous beauty," Dimitria said.
"If you say so," Kaitlyn said.
"Where do you wish to take me?" Dimitria asked.
"We're going to go out to a nightclub," Faith replied. "It's a place where people go at night to hang out and enjoy themselves." She looked Dimitria up and down. "But first, we have to get you some new clothes, because those white robes aren't really going to do it."
To that end, Faith took Dimitria and Kaitlyn to a store that sold "gothic" clothes. Faith had guessed Dimitria's sizes and gotten clothes that would fit her. She did the same for Kaitlyn.
The three women came out of the dressing rooms in new clothes. Faith was in a corset-styled black leather top and leather pants that laced on the sides with a leather choker that had a ruby dangling from its chain. Kaitlyn was dressed in a black leather tube top that had buckles around the midriff and leather skirt with buckled boots. Dimitria was dressed in almost similar clothes, except that the skirt was replaced with leather hot pants, the boots were thigh-high, and the aforementioned clothes were white.
"Wow, Dimitria," Faith said. "Looking good."
"I feel slightly . . . overexposed," Dimitria replied.
"Don't worry about it," Faith said. "Now let's go."
The three women ended up at one of Faith's favorite clubs, Dusk Before Dark. They went inside and immediately heard music. Scratch that. They heard the music at least a block before they were at the door.
"Is the music in your nightclubs always this loud?" Dimitria asked.
"At least in all the ones I've been in," Faith replied.
"And why are those young men looking at me?" Dimitria asked.
"They're checking you out," Kaitlyn replied.
"I have much to learn," Dimitria said to herself.
"And your first lesson is having fun," Faith added. "Stay with me, Dimitria. I'll teach you the moves."
Distant son, nova fucker
Hit and run to another
Took from me, took from you
Lash and caress in between
Hit the target won an animal
Got a piece, a trace, a slip inside
Tore a page from the bind.
Faith danced, her hips moving along to the fast, driving beat of the music.
Handed a twisted sadistic
Wanted you to fix it
Chant, cry, moan, lie
Tender garden bang to dry.
Dimitria observed the other dancing humans. She looked around and saw Kaitlyn getting into the music as well. She sighed and decided something.
If you can't beat them, join them.
Pound the love outta me, beat the love outta me.
Best I can do, pleasure/pain
Too close to you, I'll blow your ash away
Took from you, from me
Brutally.
Faith noticed Dimitria dancing very gracefully. She also noticed a certain innocent sensuality to her mentor's movements.
Ok, she thought. So "innocent sensuality" is an oxymoron. Big whoop. She's having fun now.
Dimitria's dancing didn't escape Kaitlyn's notice. Nor did it escape the notice of the male patrons of the nightclub.
Pound the love outta me, beat the love outta me
Catch me if you can, butter a scent on your hand.
Wigs, whips, chains tied
You laughed, I cried.
All I wanted was all you wanted.
Dimitria smiled. "It's been quite a long time since I let myself go like that."
"And you're free to do so again in the future," Faith replied. "Everyone needs a little break, or else they'll go crazy from the pressure."
A new song started up.
The three women began to dance again, unaware of the three women that were watching them. They were all beautiful, in their own way, but all shared a particular unearthliness. The lead one had pink hair of a shade like that you would get from mixing blood with snow. The second had honey-gold hair and fierce amber eyes. The third had silvery hair and pale, almost colorless eyes.
As Faith, Kaitlyn, and Dimitria danced, the three mysterious women approached them. Faith found herself with the pink-haired one as her dance partner. Kaitlyn found herself with the honey blonde, and Dimitria found herself with the silver-haired woman.
"You're very graceful, do you know that?" the silver-haired woman whispered in Dimitria's ear.
"Thank you," Dimitria replied. Despite the woman's words, Dimitria felt something very foreboding about her.
Those women feel very familiar to me, Psycho Pink thought.
Yeah, Faith agreed.
"Ah, Kaitlyn, so lovely you are," the honey-blonde woman whispered in her ear. "I see why he loves you."
Kaitlyn snapped out of her music-induced haze. "I'd recognize that voice anywhere," she said. "Kirai Yellow."
"You'd be correct," the honey blonde confirmed, her formerly dulcet voice hardening.
Faith broke away from the pink-haired woman. "Then you must be Kirai Pink." She looked at the silver-haired woman. "And you're Kalysine."
"Right on," the silver-haired woman confirmed. She grabbed Dimitria in a vise-like hold. "Now give me the shards or else . . ." A silvery blade projected from the arm that she had around Dimitria's chest and lingered dangerously close to her throat. "Your mentor gets it."
"Leave her alone!" Kaitlyn shouted.
"You mean give us the shards," Kirai Pink corrected.
"Who cares?" Faith replied. "We're not giving them to you."
"Then we'll have to beat them out of you," Kirai Yellow sneered. With a yell, she leaped into a hard spinning kick that knocked Faith and Kaitlyn off their feet.
The Kirai Ranger ladies smirked at Faith and Kaitlyn and each pulled a ring off their middle fingers. It didn't escape the Ranger girls' notice that Kirai Pink's ring had a rose quartz set in it and that Kirai Yellow's ring had a yellow topaz set in it. Surprisingly enough, the rings mystically enlarged into what looked like brass knuckles but with strange-looking belt buckles on them with enlarged gems set in them.
Kirai Yellow and Kirai Pink smirked at the other patrons. "If you want to live, I suggest you depart at once," Kirai Pink sneered.
"Listen, lady, this is my club and if you're going to be stirring up trouble, then you and your friends oughtta leave," the owner replied, striding over to them.
"Miserable fool," Kirai Pink sneered. With a blast of telekinetic force, she threw the club owner into a wall with enough power to knock him out, if not kill him. Getting the message, the patrons fled.
"Just us girls now," Kirai Yellow said.
The female Kirai Rangers slipped the Kiraimorphers onto their hands. "Kirai Matrix,Ranger Power!" As they shouted their morph command, they raised their morpher-bearing hands into the air and drew those hands back with their empty hands in a "cupping" position. Then they thrust out their Kiraimorphers, the empty hand positioned over the morpher-bearing hand, which was in an underhand position. The gems glowed with unholy light that engulfed the hateful duo before fading to reveal their Ranger forms.
"You wanna play like that, fine!" Faith shouted. Then with Kaitlyn, "Psycho Spirit Exchange!"
Now morphed, the Pink Rangers and Yellow Rangers met in a devastating head-to-head confrontation. No quarter was asked, and no quarter was given.
"Do you really think you can take us!" Kirai Yellow shouted after a particularly hard hit left Psycho Yellow staggering.
"I'm still standing," Psycho Yellow replied.
"Enough," Kirai Pink said. "If they won't give us the shards, then we'll give them some time to think about it. You hear that, Psycho Rangers? You have until midnight to make up your minds. Meet us at the abandoned subway station." With that said, the two Kirai Rangers and Kalysine warped away with Dimitria.
"Damn it!" Psycho Pink shouted.
At the Neji Chamber, the Psychos' human hosts were debating the best course of action.
"We should just go in there and take Dimitria back," Darien declared.
"That's suicide," Liam retorted. "You saw what they did to Tsukimaru. And he can take that kind of damage better than any of us. If they managed to hurt him that bad, think about what'll happen to us."
"Not my fault I'm not a wimp like you," Darien snapped.
"Both of you quit it!" Faith yelled. "It's my fault, all right! If I hadn't been so insistent on taking Dimitria out so she could have some fun for once, then they wouldn't have been able to get to her!"
"It's not your fault, Faith," Kieran replied. "Besides, you really think they wouldn't have been able to find her or someone else we care about if they wanted to force us to hand over the shards?"
"He has a point there," Kaitlyn agreed. "Besides, the important thing is getting Dimitria back."
"That's right," Kieran said. "And I've got a plan."
"I'll join you," Tsukimaru said, his voice coming from the entrance to the main room of the Neji Chamber from the infirmary.
"You sure you're up to it?" Darien asked. "You got knocked around pretty bad the last time."
"I'm sure," Tsukimaru replied.
"Let's do this," Kieran said.
The Psycho Rangers met the Kirai Rangers and Kalysine who had reverted to her true form at the abandoned subway.
"Hello, Psychos," Kirai Red said, mock politeness in his voice. He saw Psycho Silver. "Silver, Silver, Silver. I hope Kirai Yellow didn't hurt you too badly."
"I'm just fine," Psycho Silver replied.
"Do you have the shards or not?" Kirai Black asked.
"Give us Dimitria or no shards," Psycho Black replied.
"How can we be sure you'll give us the shards?" Kalysine asked.
"How can we be sure you'll give us Dimitria?" Psycho Pink replied.
"Answering a question with another question," Kirai Pink said. "Are you studying to be a human lawyer?"
"You want Dimitria so badly, here she is," Kirai Blue replied, pulling Dimitria out from her hiding place. He smirked underneath his helmet and then turned to Psycho Pink. "Tell your human self thanks for dressing her up. She looks a lot better this way."
"Let her go!" Psycho Pink snarled.
"Fine," Kirai Blue replied. He roughly shoved Dimitria at the Psycho Rangers.
Psycho Pink caught her. "Are you all right?"
"Yes, I'm fine," Dimitria replied. "The Kirai Rangers did not harm me."
"Now hand over the shards!" Kirai Yellow snapped.
"Here are your freaking shards!" Psycho Yellow retorted, and threw the bag containing the shards at Kirai Yellow, who caught it.
Kirai Yellow inspected the shards. Then she looked at Psycho Yellow, rage evident in her posture.
"Did you think you could trick us!" she asked angrily. "I know these are fakes! I know you have the real ones! We would've let you go, but now it seems we'll have to take the real shards from your corpses!"
"Dimitria, get out of here!" Psycho Yellow snapped.
"I can't leave you, my Rangers," Dimitria replied.
The two Ranger teams met again in brutal combat. If the Kirai Rangers had been tough when they were relatively calm, then they were nearly unstoppable when angry. The Psychos found themselves on the receiving end of brutal attacks, both physical and otherwise. Finally, they were left struggling to stand at all.
"Let's combine our weapons," Kirai Red said. The Kirai Twin Blade connected to the Kirai Crossbow and the Kirai Double Edge attached at its center. The Kirai Tomahawk attached to the Kirai Double Edge at its front end, hilt facing forward, while the Kirai Slinger attached itself to the Kirai Double Edge's back end. The other four Kirai Rangers gathered around Kirai Red as the combination weapon glowed with unholy violet light.
As one the Kirai Rangers shouted, "Kirai Destroyer, Annihilation Wave!"
By all rights, the blast should've killed the Psycho Rangers. But it didn't. Dimitria had formed a shield of pure light around the Psycho Rangers, protecting them. The blast was destroyed, but so was the shield and the resulting backlash blew the real shards into the hands of Kirai Red.
"We have what we came for," he said. "Good-bye, Rangers."
That said, the Kirai Rangers and Kalysine warped away.
"We're sorry, Dimitria," Psycho Red said. "Sorry we couldn't stop them."
"It's all right, Rangers," Dimitria replied. "What is important is that you're unharmed."
"As unharmed as you can get after getting the crap beaten out of you by those freaks," Psycho Blue said.
"Thank you, Dimitria," Psycho Pink said.
"You're welcome," Dimitria replied.
Back on the Kirai warship, Kanika smirked. "Good job, Kirai Rangers."
"Thank you," Kirai Red said.
"Wait a minute," Kalysine said. "If you're going to take those shards, then I want some compensation."
"You'll get it," Kanika replied. Suddenly, Kalysine felt herself trapped by invisible chains. Said chains lifted her into a facedown position in midair.
"What the hell do you think you're doing!" Kalysine asked.
"Giving you your compensation," Kanika replied. She withdrew a dagger with a jeweled hilt. "You get to use your blood to help us bring forth the sixth Kirai Ranger."
That was the last thing Kalysine heard before Kanika slit her throat. The silvery blood poured forth from her neck, dripping onto the five shards of the sixth Kirai Ranger's gem. The blood soon coated the shards, and then something happened.
The blood was sucked into the shards, which now glowed with an unholy silver light. The shards came together, forming one whole gem again, and the evil light shot out of the gem. It formed itself into a female figure and floated to the ground.
Once the light faded, they could see her features, or rather, those of the suit she wore. It was designed like those of the other Kirai Rangers, except it was silver, and the tooth designs, breastplate, and belt were metallic gold instead of metallic silver.
"Kirai Silver," Kanika said. "Welcome back to the world of the living."
Kirai Silver looked at Kanika, and an evil smile formed behind her helmet.
To be continued . . .
Next: Kirai Silver strikes, and the Psycho Rangers bond to their hosts in a manner they never thought possible.