"Power Rangers: Psycho Matrix"
Book Two: "Twisted Element"
Chapter 5: "The End or the Beginning"
Disclaimer: Zordon, Dimitria, and the Psycho Rangers do not belong to me. Everyone and everything else does. The song Kaitlyn sings is Evanescence's "Taking Over Me."
Author's note: This will be the beginning of the end of the Psycho Matrix series. We've seen the Psychos restored to physical life through five human teenagers. We've seen them learn how to feel, how to care, and how to love. We've seen a former foe turn on everything he ever knew and join the side of good. Now it all comes to a head in this.
Translation: "Hiryu" – "Fire Dragon"
Kaitlyn's band, Gold Thunder, was performing in the club Argent. The other five Psycho Rangers were there as well, watching.
Tsukimaru, aliases Terry Haller and Psycho Silver, watched Kaitlyn play her guitar with joy. His joy came from the blissful expression on Kaitlyn's face as she played her instrument.
"She's good, isn't she?" Kieran asked him.
"No, she's not," Tsukimaru replied. "She's perfect."
Faith just smiled at him. "To you she is."
Tsukimaru was too absorbed in Kaitlyn's playing to reply to Faith's remark. After the song ended, Catrina looked out at the audience.
"I won't be singing this last song," she said. She looked at Kaitlyn. "Kaitlyn will."
Kaitlyn stared at Catrina with surprise in her hazel eyes. "Me?"
"Yeah," Catrina confirmed. "I certainly can't sing it because I don't have the emotion required for it to have an effect." She looked through the audience, searching for a certain dark-haired, golden-eyed young man, and winked at Kaitlyn after finding him. She stepped aside, and allowed Kaitlyn to take center stage.
"This isn't my own song," Kaitlyn confessed, "but it expresses how I feel inside." She looked through the audience, finding Tsukimaru, and locked eyes with him, hazel meeting golden. Then she began to sing.
You don't remember me, but I remember you
I lie awake and try so hard not to think of you
But who can decide what they dream, and dream I do.
I believe in you
I'll give up everything just to find you
I have to be with you
To live, to breathe
You're taking over me.
Have you forgotten all I know, and all we had?
You saw me mourning my love for you, and touched my hand
I knew you loved me then.
I believe in you
I'll give up everything just find you
I have to be with you
To live, to breathe
You're taking over me.
I look in the mirror and see your face
If I look deep enough
So many things inside that are
Just like you are taking over.
I believe in you
I'll give up everything just to find you
I have to be with you
To live, to breathe
You're taking over me.
I believe in you
(I believe in you)
I'll give up everything just to find you
I have to be with you
To live, to breathe
You're taking over me (taking over me)
You're taking over me (taking over me)
You're taking over me.
For what seemed like an eternity, Tsukimaru and Kaitlyn looked at each other. Time seemed to stand still, and there was no one but the two of them.
Finally, the applause of the patrons snapped them both out of their daze. The five girls of Gold Thunder stepped off the stage only to encounter a man dressed quite well. Not like in a suit, but he obviously took great pains with his appearance.
"So you're the young ladies of Gold Thunder," he said. "I've heard lots about you."
"You have?" Catrina asked.
"Yes," the man confirmed. "You're quite the local celebrities in this city. I was wondering how you'd feel about going big time."
"Are you serious?" Eden asked.
"Very serious, indeed," the man replied. "I'm an agent for Artemis Entertainment." He pulled out a card from his jacket and gave it to Catrina. "You don't have to decide now. I'll give you some time to think about it, but my bosses aren't willing to wait indefinitely. The card has my number on it, for you to call me when you've made your decision."
"Thanks," Catrina said.
"Hopefully, I'll see you wonderful young ladies in the near future," the man said. He walked away and out of the club.
Mia looked over Catrina's shoulder. "'Kai Asaji.' Cool guy."
The other five Rangers came over to the members of Gold Thunder. "Whoa. That guy must be serious," Darien said.
"You sure about this?" Faith asked. "It could always be some kind of scam. Those tend to happen a lot."
"You're paranoid, Faith," Liam said.
"No, I'm just looking out for Kait," Faith replied.
"Thanks," Kaitlyn said, "but I think this guy's on the level."
"Which level?" Darien asked.
Lana snickered slightly. "Good one." Then she saw Tsukimaru. "So you're the guy Kaitlyn's so smitten with. I can see why."
"There's more to him than just his looks, Lana," Kaitlyn protested.
"I know, I know," Lana said blithely.
"So you gonna go get famous or what?" Faith asked.
"We're thinking about it," Catrina replied.
Meanwhile, on the Kirai warship, Kanika brooded.
Ever since they had come to Earth, they had experienced nothing but defeat. Granted, her lieutenants had soundly thrashed the Psycho Rangers in their first battle, but since then . . .
First, Tsukimaru had fallen in love with Psycho Yellow's human half, ultimately falling on Yuna's glaive to protect her. Second, the traitor had become a Psycho Ranger himself. Third, the Kirai Rangers had dominated the Psychos and their sixth had been able to take them all on by herself, but the Psycho Rangers had merged with their human halves, making them even stronger. Worse yet, the Prism Ranger powers had been temporarily given to seven former Power Rangers, tipping the scales very heavily in the Psychos' favor, ultimately leading to the deaths of the Kirai Rangers.
"Enough is enough," she said, standing up. "Kokure, Yuna, Xaran, get in here."
Kokure and the two lieutenants arrived. "Yes, Kanika-hime?" Xaran asked.
"I've had enough of being defeated by the Psycho Rangers," Kanika declared. "We're going to make them pay. Instead of wasting our time fighting them, we're simply going to annihilate their precious city."
"That sounds very pleasant indeed," Kokure said.
"Yes, it is," Kanika replied. "We'll destroy the city and flush out the Rangers that way. Then we'll kill them and put their heads up on pikes in our Earth base to show everyone what happens when you defy our power."
"We don't have an Earth base, Kanika-hime," Yuna corrected.
"Of course we don't, Yuna," Kanika said nonchalantly. "But we will. We will have a base on Earth once we conquer it, and then we'll strip that worthless planet of its life energy. Once we have it, we will have all that we need to make ourselves . . . immortal."
"Yes, with the power of the planets inside us, we shall never die," Kokure added. "We will live forever, and we will be all-powerful."
Kanika stalked toward the bridge of the ship. "Prepare to leave orbit. We're going straight to Earth, and we'll finish this for good!"
Back on Earth, Dimitria called the Psycho Rangers. "Rangers, you must come to the Neji Chamber immediately."
"We're on our way, Dimitria," Kieran replied. The Rangers activated the transporters in their morphers and were swept off to the Neji Chamber in multicolored balls of light. "What's going on?"
"The Kirai are preparing for their final strike," Dimitria replied.
"'Final strike'?" Faith echoed.
"After their previous defeats at your hands, I imagine that they have become rather weary of you," Dimitria explained.
The screen lit up, and the Rangers could see a giant dark robot stalk through the city.
"Man, that thing's taller than most skyscrapers!" Darien exclaimed.
"What is it?" Kaitlyn asked.
"The Kirai warship," Tsukimaru replied, horror in his voice. "They've changed it into a battle mecha capable of destroying everything in its path."
"How do we stop that thing?" Faith asked.
"We just do," Kieran replied, raising his left wrist. Then with the other four Rangers, "Psycho Spirit Fusion!"
"Twisted Aura Exchange!" Tsukimaru shouted.
The morphed Psycho Rangers raced to the scene in their riders, which they had converted to flight mode.
"Hey, Kanika!" Psycho Red shouted. "You wanna stop hiding in that thing and fight us?"
"Look, Kan, no mecha!" Psycho Pink shouted.
"Miserable fools," Kanika sneered. "Weapons!"
The Kirai mecha raised its arms and compartments in those arms opened to reveal twin gun barrels.
"Lasers, fire!" Kanika ordered.
The Kirai mecha fired laser bursts at the Psycho Rangers, striking Pink's and Blue's Aurora Riders.
"We've been hit!" Blue shouted, and he and Pink began to plummet.
"Blue! Pink!" Psycho Black shouted.
"You'll pay for that, bitch," Psycho Yellow vowed. "Psycho Energy Blast!"
A beam of yellow energy was fired from Yellow's Aurora Rider and it struck the Kirai mecha.
"Psycho Energy Blast!" Red and Black shouted, firing the lasers of their Aurora Riders.
"I've had enough of you pests!" Kanika shouted and the Kirai mecha's arm swatted them and Yellow aside, knocking them out of the air and leaving Psycho Silver by himself in his Aurarider.
"Just you and me," Silver said. He flew at the Kirai mecha, Psycho Blazer raised. "Silver Lightning Slash!" He slashed the Kirai mecha with the silver lightning-charged gun-sword.
"That hurt, you little traitor," Kanika snarled. "Missiles, fire!"
This time, the Kirai mecha's gun barrels fired missiles at Silver, who swerved out of the way.
"Auralaser, fire!" he shouted, firing the lasers in his Aurarider.
"I've had enough!" Yuna shouted.
"Yuna, don't!" Kokure warned, but Yuna jumped out of the mecha and slashed Psycho Silver with her Kirai Glaive at hyper-speed, knocking him out of the air. Yuna jumped down after him, pursuing him with vicious slashes as he struggled to defend himself.
"Bad idea for you to leave that mecha of yours," Yellow sneered.
"And we're about to show you why," Pink added.
"Psycho Striker!" the five Psycho Rangers shouted, combining their weapons. "Fire!"
The Psycho Striker unleashed a wave of green energy with lightning circulating through it, but Yuna caught it on her glaive and batted it back at the Psycho Rangers. She threw the glaive into the air and charged at all six Rangers, her fists and feet her weapons for the moment.
And those fists and feet were certainly powerful. The six Rangers found themselves being thoroughly pummeled, especially Silver.
"I hate you, Tsukimaru!" she screamed, beating him viciously. "I hate you, even more than I loved you!"
"We can't choose who we love, Yuna!" Psycho Silver protested, blocking her attacks as best he could. "Although Kaitlyn's certainly a better choice for me than you, blackened by hate as you are."
Just then, the glaive fell back into Yuna's hand and she slashed Psycho Silver with it six times. She ended her attack with a blast of warped air, one that pierced him like a knife.
"Silver!" Yellow shouted. "Sofia Lightning Strike!" She fired a blast of golden lightning at Yuna.
"You!" Yuna screamed, forgetting Silver and charging at Yellow. "You miserable human slut!" She slashed her viciously, even more so than she had done to Silver. "He was mine! Mine!"
Yellow just blocked, marveling at how anger could cloud a person's fighting skills. "Apparently, he didn't think so," she sneered, deliberately adding fuel to the fire.
Yuna slashed at Yellow, and Yellow caught it, holding her fast. "He's not yours, Yuna. Get over it, you stupid bitch."
She held the Psycho Sling right at Yuna's stomach and fired, sending a painful jolt of energy straight through her.
"Rangers," Dimitria said in their communications system. "I have a way for you to even the playing field with Kanika."
"What is it, Dimitria?" Psycho Red asked.
"I'm sending you your own Zords," Dimitria replied. The six Rangers looked up and saw six machines flying toward them. Five were shaped like animals, while the sixth resembled a cross between a shuttle and fighter jet. The Zord in the lead was shaped like a dragon and was colored red with a black underside. The two Zords flying beside it were pink and yellow and designed like insects, only the pink one was shaped like a wasp and the yellow was shaped like a hornet. On the ground, there were two Zords, ice blue and jet black; the blue one looked like a polar bear and the black one looked like an anteater.
"Freakin' awesome," Psycho Pink said.
"With you there," Psycho Black said.
"Psycho Red, you will pilot the DragonFire Phantom Zord," Dimitria explained. "Psycho Black, the AnteaterEarth Vulgar Zord is yours to command. Psycho Blue, the PolarIce Bizarre Zord will be driven by you. Psycho Yellow, you will control the HornetLightning Sofia Zord. Psycho Pink, you will pilot the StingerRose Jealous Zord. Last but not least, Psycho Silver, you will pilot the Eclipse Winger."
"What are we waiting for?" Psycho Blue asked. "Let's do this!"
The six Rangers leaped into the air and jumped into their Psycho Zords.
"How pumped am I?" Psycho Black declared.
"This rocks!" Psycho Blue shouted.
"No doubt," Psycho Yellow agreed.
"I like this Zord," Psycho Pink said. "The seat's nice and comfy." She stretched inside the seat, or as much as she could in the tight black-and-pink armor that was her Ranger suit.
"Mine's not that bad," Psycho Red said. "The dragon motif's cool."
"Stay focused," Psycho Silver advised.
Kanika, Kokure, and Xaran looked out at the Psycho Zords.
"They have Zords!" Xaran shouted, indignant.
Kanika just smirked. "That makes things far more interesting." To the Psycho Rangers, "What do you Earth-humans say in situations like this? Oh, yes. Bring it on!"
"Consider it brought!" Psycho Red replied. The Phantom Zord flew into battle. "Phantom Zord, Hiryu Attack!"
The Phantom Zord ignited into flames and flew at and around the Kirai mecha, creating a flaming circle that constricted around it.
"Ha! Feel the burn?" Psycho Red asked mockingly.
The Kirai mecha's barrels sank back inside its arms, but blades extended from the arms. The Kirai mecha slashed at the Phantom Zord.
"Take a chill pill!" Psycho Blue shouted. "Bizarre Zord, Blizzard Attack!"
The Bizarre Zord fired a wave of snow and hail that paralyzed the Kirai mecha.
"We're frozen!" Kokure shouted.
"Not for long!" Kanika shouted back. "Xaran, activate the heating system!"
The heating system activated, melting the ice and snow that covered the Kirai mecha.
"Vulgar Zord, Earth Splitter!" Psycho Black shouted.
The Vulgar Zord stabbed the ground with its head, creating an earth-splitting wave of energy that went through the ground and right at the Kirai mecha. It wobbled and stumbled, but held its balance.
"Our turn!" Kokure shouted, and the Kirai mecha leaped at Blue's and Black's Zords, slashing with its bladed arms.
"Not in this lifetime, you evil witch!" Psycho Pink shouted, flying at the Kirai mecha with Yellow beside her. "StingerRose Jealous Zord!"
"HornetLightning Sofia Zord!" Psycho Yellow shouted.
Then the Psycho girls shouted together, "Change to Fighter Mode!"
That was when their Zords transformed. The abdomens split open and long shapely feminine legs emerged, the split abdomens forming a sort of skirt. The thoraxes split open, revealing humanoid torsos with arms and feminine curves and the thoraxes became shoulder pads. The insect-like heads tilted so that they were positioned like humanoid heads.
"They have Fighter Modes!" Yuna, having rejoined the other Kirai earlier, exclaimed in surprise.
Pink's and Yellow's Zords ran at the Kirai mecha and double-teamed it. They leaped into the air, somersaulted, and kicked it together.
"Damn, now those are some agile fighting machines," Red commented.
"Shit!" Blue exclaimed. "Why don't we get Fighter Modes?"
"Who knows?" Black replied.
The Jealous and Sofia Zords removed the insect legs from their shoulder pads and attached them to the backs of their hands.
"Jealous Slash!" Pink commanded, sending the Jealous Zord slashing at the Kirai mecha at lightning speed.
"We're taking serious damage!" Yuna exclaimed.
"You state the obvious," Kanika replied in a deadpan tone. Then to Pink, "If that's the way it's going to be, then have a taste of your own medicine!" She sent the Kirai mecha slashing at Pink's Zord.
"Don't touch her!" Yellow shouted, going after the Kirai mecha with her Zord's own insect-leg claws and blocking its attacks at the same time.
"DragonFire Phantom Zord, Change to Fighter Mode!" Red commanded. Instantly, the Phantom Zord morphed from a draconic shape to a lithe humanoid shape with the dragon's head embedding itself in the Zord's torso.
The Phantom Zord took on the Kirai mecha, both machines moving at incredible speed.
"Dragon Fangs!" Psycho Red shouted, summoning curved twin blades into the Phantom Zord's hands. He slashed at the Kirai mecha. "Phantom Zord, Fire Dragon Blade!"
The scenery around the Phantom Zord shifted to blackness and fire as it slashed the Kirai mecha at insane speed.
"Enough of this!" Kanika snapped. At her command, the Kirai mecha caught the Phantom Zord's Dragon Fangs and threw the Zord aside. The Phantom Zord somersaulted and landed.
"We have to be careful," Psycho Red said. "We're in a city."
"Shit," Psycho Yellow said. "Who knows how much of this city this fight's already totaled?"
"Then let's take this outside of the city," Psycho Silver suggested.
As one, the Rangers proceeded to head out of the city.
"They're running away!" Kokure shouted with a look of triumph on her face.
"No, sister," Kanika replied. "They're trying to lure us away so that they don't have to worry about damaging their precious city fighting us. It doesn't matter where we take them down, so we can pursue them, anyway."
The Kirai mecha reconfigured itself into its original warship form and flew after the Psycho Rangers.
"We're just outside the city," Psycho Black said. "And we're not anywhere innocent people would be likely to inhabit."
"Then let's do this!" Psycho Blue exclaimed.
"Eclipse Winger, Argent Lasers!" Psycho Silver shouted, firing silver energy bursts at the Kirai mecha.
"He wants to play rough?" Xaran asked. "We can do that, too." The blades retracted, and the Kirai mecha fired bolts of plasma energy at the Eclipse Winger.
Psycho Silver dodged. "Good one, but not good enough. Eclipse Winger, Fighter Mode!"
The engines of the Winger opened up into legs and the nose split into upper arms that unfolded to reveal forearms and hands as a robotic head emerged.
The wings of the Eclipse Winger detached from the Winger's back and the Winger grasped them. "Winger Boomerang!" Psycho Silver shouted, throwing the wings at the Kirai mecha as a boomerang. Unfortunately, the hateful mecha caught it and threw it right back at him. The Eclipse Winger leaped out of the way and caught the wings back on its back and flew right at the Kirai mecha.
"Perhaps an up-close-and-personal approach will do it!" Silver shouted. "Argent Missiles, fire!"
The Eclipse Winger fired twin missiles at the Kirai mecha, creating a massive explosion.
"Yeah, we did it!" Psycho Pink shouted.
"Dude, we rock," Psycho Black said.
As the smoke cleared, the Rangers could see a familiar and much hated figure.
"Hell, no!" Psycho Red exclaimed in disbelief.
"We're not dead yet, Rangers," Yuna said.
The Kirai mecha fired electromagnetic pulses at the Rangers' Zords, locking them in place.
"Damn it!" Psycho Yellow exclaimed. "I can't move!"
"Me neither," Psycho Pink said.
"None of us can move," Psycho Blue said.
"Of course not, Liam," Psycho Black said. "It's a freaking EM pulse!"
"Dimitria, what do we do?" Psycho Red asked. "With our Zords frozen, we're sitting ducks!"
"Yes, you are!" Kanika exclaimed. Just then, the Kirai mecha began tearing up the Psycho Zords. Once they were down, it started kicking at them. "Come on! Is that all you've got!"
"If their EMP froze our Zords, then who's to say a pulse of our own can't get them up again?" Psycho Pink suggested.
"That's a good idea, Faith," Psycho Red said. "Everyone concentrate your energies into the Zords!"
The Psychos placed their hands on the sides of their Zord consoles and channeled their energies into them. Green and silver lightning (green for the main five, silver for Silver) crackled in the cockpits and around the Zords.
"Now let's get up and finish this!" Psycho Blue exclaimed.
The Psychos righted their Zords.
"Round Two!" Psycho Black exclaimed.
"Rangers," Dimitria said, "combine your Zords into the Psycho Megazord. I'm sending you data on how to do this."
Suddenly, the Rangers found themselves awash in a sea of data.
"Let's do this," Psycho Red said. "Activate Megazord sequence!"
First, the Phantom Zord's arms folded up behind its back. The Sofia and Jealous Zords converted to their original insect-like forms and attached themselves to the Phantom Zord's torso, the heads splitting open to reveal hands and closing again once the hands had fully withdrawn. As this was happening, the Vulgar and Bizarre Zords configured themselves into legs and locked around the Phantom Zord's legs. The dragon's head detached itself from the Phantom Zord's torso and its Fighter Mode head detached as well, locking itself in the mouth of the dragon's head like a helmet. A three-pronged, flame-like red-accented tarnished silver headdress attached itself to the head, masking the Phantom Zord Fighter Mode's eyes, and a mouth-plate closed over the lower half of its face. It reattached to the Phantom Zord, and torso armor with the Psycho Rangers' symbol attached itself to the front.
The five Psycho Rangers sat in the cockpit of their Megazord, Red in front with Black and Blue next to him and Yellow and Pink behind and in between them.
"Psycho Megazord!" the five shouted.
"Ok, was anyone surprised that they did that?" Kokure asked sarcastically.
"Let's finish them!" Kanika shouted. The Kirai mecha fired its missiles at the Megazord, but the Megazord just stalked toward them, the missiles missing it by millimeters.
"Twisted Sword!" the Psycho Rangers shouted, summoning a sword with a wavy blade. The Psycho Megazord slashed at the Kirai mecha, but the hateful machine caught it in one hand and punched the Megazord with the other. In retaliation, the Psycho Megazord's left arm, formerly the StingerRose Jealous Zord, drew back and its fist struck the Kirai mecha forcefully, causing it to stumble back. The Megazord drew up its right leg, formerly the AnteaterEarth Vulgar Zord, and kicked the Kirai mecha.
"What do you say we join forces and finish this once and for all?" Psycho Silver suggested.
"Then come on!" Psycho Yellow shouted. "The more, the merrier."
"Engage Psycho Winger formation!" Psycho Silver shouted. The wings and cockpit of the Eclipse Winger detached from the body and the head sank back inside. The Psycho Megazord's torso armor detached as the Eclipse Winger's body took its place, its arms and legs folding up behind the Megazord's back. The wings and cockpit of the Winger attached to the Megazord's back and the headdress detached from the Megazord's head, replaced by a similar headdress but pure silver with black highlights.
"Psycho Winger Megazord!" all six Rangers exclaimed. Psycho Silver's seat had moved into the Megazord cockpit upon completion of the fusion and Yellow and Pink's seats had moved to the sides to make room. The new Megazord formation rose into the air and then flew down, an aura of green-and-silver lightning around it. "Twisted Sword Diving Slash!"
The Psycho Winger Megazord tore through the Kirai mecha with the attack and landed behind it as it fell in a tremendous explosion.
"We did it," Red said. "The threat of the Kirai is over."
However, a terrible feeling went through Silver, and it made him doubt the accuracy of his red leader's statement.
He turned out to be right, as the Kirai mecha rose from the flames.
"What the hell!" Black exclaimed.
"Why won't they just die already!" Pink asked, incensed.
"The mecha's too damaged to survive any more fighting," Xaran said.
"Oh, we can still use it as a weapon," Kanika said, a cold hard look in her eyes. "Activate the self-destruct sequence. Thirty seconds!"
"Done," Yuna said.
The Kirai mecha stalked toward the Psycho Winger Megazord. Its onboard computer counted down: "Twenty-nine. Twenty-eight. Twenty-seven. Twenty-six. Twenty-five. Twenty-four . . ."
"What are they trying to do?" Blue asked.
"Eclipse Winger, break formation!" Silver ordered, separating the Eclipse Winger from the Psycho Megazord.
"Silver, what the hell are you doing!" Yellow asked.
"Protecting you," Silver replied, flying at the Kirai mecha and grabbing it in a chokehold.
"Thirteen. Twelve. Eleven . . ."
The Eclipse Winger flew up into the air, rising higher and higher.
"Tsukimaru!" Yellow shouted.
"Five. Four . . ."
"I love you," Silver replied.
"One."
Then there was an explosion high in the sky, right where the Eclipse Winger and the Kirai mecha had been.
"It can't be . . ." Psycho Red whispered.
"No. No. No," Yellow moaned. Then an anguished scream escaped her lips. "Tsukimaru!"
To be continued . . .
Next: With Psycho Silver presumed dead, the other five Rangers struggle to end the threat of the Kirai for good, but can they?