Disclaimer: Belongs to Disney. No infringement intended.
RESTLESS WARRIORS
By Etcetera Kit
Chapter Twenty-Seven: One Step Ahead
Ashley stared at the knife in Jareth's hand, as if it were detached from the whole situation. It was like the thing was in its own dimension and acting of its own free will. But there was that hand attached to it—it was real and it was coming dangerously close to Tori's throat. If that demon had only the slightest bobble of the hand, then Tori was done for or she would at least sustain a serious injury. She tried to calm her thudding heart and sweaty palms. She had never had experience with enemies that used such crude weapons. She was used to laser guns and satellite beams and asteroids and things of that nature, not knives. How were they supposed to respond to that? And that girl was pregnant? She couldn't be more than nineteen or twenty. There was so much about these people and these demons that she didn't know… it made her wonder if Dustin was this baby's father.
Eric gently eased Taylor onto the sphinx with Katie standing close by. He approached the altar with his hands raised and his palms outward. It seemed like the mark of someone who had been in a similar situation before. What did Eric do for a living? No one had offered occupations with the initial introductions. Of course, the sadness was evident in all their voices. She hadn't known Dustin, but her heart went out to them regardless.
"You don't want to do this," he said in a soft, coaxing voice. It was like he was trying to get a kitten out of a tree. "The ceremony has been disrupted and it can't be reconciled. Taking Tori won't change anything." He paused and took another tentative step forward, his dark eyes carefully neutral and masking all his emotions. "Let her go and you can go flee into the spirit realm. We won't bother you again."
"Fool," Jareth hissed, yanking Tori back another step. She winced and her blue eyes were fixed on the knife blade. "It's all a matter of leverage." Tori's blue eyes widened and were alight with fear. Her hands clutched feebly at the iron grip that held her to that demon.
Eric narrowed his eyes. "What are you talking about?"
"If I have something those stupid former rangers want to keep safe, then I will continue to be safe." He paused. "Once I have her child, nothing in the spirit realm will be able to hurt me." His smile grew wide and malicious. "Oh yes, the child of a ranger… that is a prize to be won amongst the demons."
Ashley swallowed as quietly as she could, thinking to her own daughter at home. Would he stop at Tori? Would all of them be in danger? She glanced to Tori again and couldn't help but feel that Tori hadn't known she was pregnant. The surprise at hearing that news couple with the fact that someone wanted the baby—it wasn't good. If Dustin was the baby's father, were they really going to let the last traces of him disappear into the spirit realm? Could a mortal even exist in the spirit realm?
"You're a demon," Eric replied. "You're immortal."
"A demon, yes. Bound to live for thousands of centuries, yes. But immortal? No." Jareth visibly shuddered. "You don't know what can happen." His eyes were glazed. Who was in charge of these demons? What did they have to fear? Ashley didn't know that a demon could actually die, but it seemed that Vypra had just been vaporized out of existence.
"Just let Tori go-"
"Shut-up!" Jareth snapped. He yanked Tori backward again. She was trying to struggle against that blade and the demon, but her efforts to escape seemed to have no effect. It was like he was made of steel or something equally as indestructible. Just what exactly were these demons? "I've made my choice. Now you can make yours. Back away from this temple and leave or know that you were the cause of her death!"
Eric slowly took a step back, his hands still raised. Ashley glanced to him. He had some kind of laser gun in a weapon harness at his thigh. His hands didn't move anywhere near it, but if one of them could get to it and take Jareth by surprise… No one could morph, since all of them had powered down and morphing would cause the demon to panic. That could not happen. She thought briefly to Serena and Andros at home… Tori was somebody's daughter, somebody's friend… how could Jareth just snatch her away from everything?
Then it occurred to her—this being had no feelings or conscience. He didn't care what he was doing to Tori by trying to take her away. He only saw what he could gain from the bargain. And it didn't make sense—his existence would be reduced to nothing more than a shadow of what it had been.
"Get out!" Jareth shrieked.
"No!" Tori cried as the blade pressed against her skin, a single drop of blood oozing from the shallow cut.
"Wait!" Ashley screamed, stepping forward. "We can talk to Zordon for you!"
"Zordon?" Jareth lowered the blade and looked interested.
She was suddenly aware of everyone in the room watching her intently. Their gazes showed so much—surprise, doubt, anxiety. But they had talked to Zordon, hadn't they? He had talked to the other yellow rangers. There had to be a way to talk to him now. For so long she had believed that Zordon would come if she called…
"Explain," Jareth demanded, his tone ominous.
"If we talked to Zordon," Ashley said, well aware of the fact that her voice was trembling. "We could get him to grant you clemency."
"There is no such thing as clemency in the spirit realm," he growled.
"But Zordon is powerful!" Ashley cried. "He holds a lot of power and influence. If he was protecting you, no one else would be able to harm you!"
"I don't believe you," the demon hissed. "Call him here now."
Oh no. Ashley had no idea how Zordon had come to them when the yellow rangers not already in the temple had congregated outside of the entrance. She imagined that Maya and the others had some other removed way of contacting him. This was bad.
There was an evil glint in Jareth's eyes. "You don't know," he said in a mocking tone. "It's all lies. You tell nothing but lies."
"Like you have a better track record," Kira muttered.
Maya stepped forward. "I can call Zordon, but I can't do it here. I need to go back to the camp site to make a fire and get my herbs."
"If you leave," Jareth said. "I leave with the girl."
Ashley looked back at the other horrified faces. No one knew how to approach this dilemma. It was either leave and know that Tori would be safe or stay and risk Jareth killing her and her baby. In fact, the Space Ranger was not even sure that they could trust that Jareth would not harm Tori. None of these villains were trustworthy—she had learned that time and time again with Divatox and then Astronema and her crew.
"If you'll just let me get my things!" Maya pleaded with him.
The demon remained cold and impassive. "You can do what you want. Either way, this child will be mine."
She couldn't be sure if he was talking about Tori or her baby, since Tori herself wasn't much more than a child. Her eyes darted to Eric, who was still holding his palms up. He was slowly backing towards Taylor and the sphinx. Maya had backed away too and had bumped into Kelsey and Katie.
"Get out!" Jareth shrieked again. He was starting to look panicked, as if he weren't sure that his leverage would hold out against these people. Either way, something somebody was going to regret was going to happen. Was he counting on them following their hearts or their minds? It was hard to say what this demon was hoping to gain from this. But if he thought that they would leave without one of their own… he was more delusional than she thought. Maybe he was broken up over Vypra's demise… maybe he loved her in some twisted sense and that was driving him to do this.
No one moved in light of all his shrieking. All of them were frozen in place, not sure where to err. Was it better to try to save Tori and risk sacrificing her? Or was it better to leave, ensuring their safety, but sacrificing Tori anyways? Someone was going to get hurt and it all spiraled back to Tori.
Taylor leaned a hand on the small of Eric's back as he stopped just before the sphinx and to the right of her. She was almost sitting on the sphinx's back. He was a Silver Guardian—he knew how to deal with terrorists, crazed people trying to jump off a bridge, psychopaths and all kinds of other nefarious characters. He glanced to her and their gazes met. His black eyes were not afraid or even panicked. Instead, he looked angry. Beyond the anger, there was something even deeper and she had a feeling that it was there for her. Love…
He cared about all of them in his own unique way. He might not have liked all of them, but he cared about them, didn't want to see any of them come to harm. In fact, he would probably end up being the most broken up about Dustin once they could get away from this temple and Jareth. She had a feeling he wasn't leaving without Tori in tow.
His right hand came behind his back and covered her hand. She could feel his strong fingers grasp her hand, gently stroking her knuckles. Her eyes went to his left hand, dangling idly at his side. It was hard to believe that wedding ring—the promise that that meant to him. Marriage was not just a fleeting stage. For him, it was a lifetime commitment, it was forever. He would ride out the storms, waiting for the calm. He had never once said he loved her…
But then she realized, he had never had to say that he loved her. He had other ways of saying it without words. Had she even told him that she loved him? Probably not. Neither of them were sentimental…
"Get out!" Jareth continued to shriek.
The stillness in the room and the silence grew.
"Are you deaf? Get out!" He brandished the knife. "I will kill her."
"No you won't, Jareth."
The voice seemed to come from out of nowhere. It was that sensual tenor that she had not heard since that camp fire when the leaders of the spirit realm had come to them. She twisted her head and saw a man walking from the back of the temple. His footsteps echoed eerily throughout the still chamber. His long black hair was loose and silky as it fell to his shoulders. His gold eyes burned with anger and hate. While wearing a simple white shirt and black pants, he had a blood red cape on over it. A delicate crown of silver came across his forehead and disappeared into his hair. His nails were long and tinted black, showing up marvelously against the crimson cape.
Lucivar…
Compared to Lucivar, Jareth was pathetic. He was shorter, thinner and pale with blonde hair and features like a rat. His clothes were also more elaborate and self-aggrandizing, not the simple, understated attire that suited the Prince of the Demons. The self-proclaimed King of the Goblins pulled the knife and Tori closer to him in a gesture that was supposed to be threatening. It came across as frightened and skittish, like a small child.
"Jareth…" Lucivar said in a mocking tone. "I know that being regulated to ruling the goblins was boring, but was it so boring that you had to join forces with my foolish sister?" He shook his head in mocking sadness. "Destroying the world will not get you back into anyone's graces." He paused. "And neither will kidnapping that girl."
"She is leverage," Jareth hissed, quite obviously afraid.
"Leverage?" Lucivar feigned surprise.
"What about your code of honor? You have to let the Yellow Rangers perform this task. You cannot interfere." His words were panicked and rising in pitch and volume.
Lucivar smiled a lazy, arrogant smile. "Ah, but you see, they have completed their task. They were supposed to stop this ceremony and they have. I am now free to do whatever I wish to you."
Jareth pressed the knife to Tori's throat. She cried out. "If you try to do something to met, I will kill the girl."
"And then I will destroy you. Either way, Jareth, you lose."
Lucivar pushed past the line of Yellow Rangers. For just a second, Taylor could have sworn that he had made eye contact with her and his gold eyes had flicked to Eric's Quantum Defender. What was he on about? There was no way that Eric could get the weapon and fire it without Jareth noticing and panicking, possibly causing more harm.
He stood in front of the altar, directly in front of Jareth and Tori. With a simple pull of the ties, his cape fell away to the floor beneath him. His gold eyes fell upon Owling—still on the ground. He leaned over the fairy and pressed his hands to his temple.
"Be free of the spells, my friend," he said softly.
Owling stirred and then blinked. He glanced at Lucivar and did a double-take. "Prince Lucivar?" he asked, sounding confused. "Where am I?" He slowly tried to push himself into a sitting position. Lucivar lowered his hands from Owling's head and moved to help him sit up.
"The underground demon temple on Earth," Lucivar replied.
"How did I get here? The last thing I remember was I was walking through the forest in Fairyland to meet Arval." Owling truly looked confused.
"That was the last thing you were doing, before Jareth kidnapped you to become Master of the Guard for his contorted scheme." He paused. "You will be returned to your people—do not worry about it."
Owling's eyes widened. "Oh no," he moaned. "I didn't hurt anyone, did I?"
Lucivar looked around at all of them, amusement in those strange eyes. "I don't believe you did hurt anyone. Not directly, at any rate."
A shadow fell over Owling's face at the implications of it. He had stopped them from getting into the temple and to Dustin in a timely fashion. Directly, he had not caused any of them harm. But indirectly, he had been the cause of so much that had happened to them.
"You are not responsible for your actions while under Jareth's spell," Lucivar assured him. "In fact…" He looked up and pinned Jareth with a menacing stare. "He is going to be punished for enslaving a fairy when it is obviously against our codes."
Jareth looked panicked. "The girl…" He faltered under that stare. His eyes flicked wildly from them to Lucivar and then back again.
"Let the girl go," Lucivar said. "You will also remember that it is against our codes to enslave mortals as well as fairies. If you go through with kidnapping the girl, I can tell you that the goblins and their king will no longer exist."
Jareth gulped audibly.
Lucivar was slowly advancing on him. Jareth was panicked and kept moving backwards, not knowing what else to do. He also seemed reluctant to let go of Tori—even though the odds were so obviously against him.
Taylor suddenly understood what Lucivar had been trying to tell her.
She flexed her fingers, coaxing Eric to let go of his grip on her hand. She then slowly slide her arm around Eric's waist so that it just looked like she had thrown a casual arm around him. Jareth was watching Lucivar, but he would notice if Eric went for the Quantum Defender. If she went for it—he wouldn't notice as quickly.
Her hand slid down his side until her fingers brushed the weapon. She quickly grasped the laser gun and pulled it from the weapons' harness it was in. She pulled it behind Eric's back so that Jareth would not notice it immediately.
Her eyes went to the cornered demon. She had a clear shot of his shoulder, since Tori was shorter than him. The only trouble was compensating for the fact that he could jerk Tori into the laser's path at any moment.
Quickly assessing the weapon, she pulled the safety trigger off and set the weapon for maximum power. Eric had taught her how to use this thing, even if it had been a long time ago, she remembered how to use it.
She glanced up at Jareth and Tori.
She had her shot.
And she took it.
Kelsey watched as that shot from the Quantum Defender sang forth. The shocked look on Jareth's face said that he was not expecting it and he didn't have to time react. The shot hit his shoulder and the momentum thrust him backwards and his arms outwards.
That moment was all they needed. Tori dashed forward and Lucivar caught her, throwing her towards the rest of them.
Jareth was cowering against the wall, false tears coming to his eyes.
Taylor threw the Quantum Defender back at Eric. He caught the weapon and held it ready in his hands, advancing forward so he was even with Lucivar. The Demon Prince turned towards him.
"Your weapons are useless here," he said. "I will make sure that justice is served to this one."
"What happened to Vypra?" Eric asked.
Lucivar sighed. "She has gone back to the darkness. She sacrificed herself rather than living with what my judgment would be." He looked at Jareth and waved a hand over him. Jareth became still and his eyes looked glazed over.
Kelsey went over to Tori, carefully keeping her eyes on Lucivar and Eric the entire time. Tori was in a heap on the floor. She helped her up. She stood shakily, the shallow wound on her throat already scabbing over. They could look at it more when they got back to the camp site. Maya hurried over to them.
"Are you all right?" she asked Tori.
The girl nodded. Physically she might be all right, but mentally? No one would know until some serious questions could be asked about certain subjects.
"We need to get back to camp and talk to Zordon," Kelsey said to Maya.
The Galaxy Ranger nodded. "We do." She paused, her brown eyes growing distant and wistful. "But I think we need to contact Sensei Wantanabe first."
Kelsey swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. They did need to contact the head of the Wind Ninja Academy so that he could contact all the proper authorities. There was some comfort in the fact that he would believe their tale. The Pegasus nudged her shoulder, blowing hot, horse-breath onto her cheek. She laid a hand on his nose. He snorted.
Lucivar was standing over the altar, his hands moving in a circular motion.
"What's wrong?" Kira called out.
He didn't answer, just continued what he was doing.
"Who is he?" Ashley asked.
"Lucivar," Kira replied. "He's the Prince of the Demons. Vypra was his sister."
"Who's side is he on?" Tanya questioned.
"Looks like his own," Conner responded. "But it looks like his side coincides with our side this time around."
Kelsey tuned out the banter that followed. She was concentrating on standing upright and not breaking down in front of everyone. She knew that it was unfair to blame a lot of what had happened on herself, but she did. Taylor pushed herself to her feet and hobbled over to her and Maya. Kira left the company of Conner and joined them. The four of them looked at each other, knowing that their circle would not be complete anymore.
"You need to leave," Lucivar said suddenly.
"Why?" Maya asked.
He looked pained. "The power that was created during the ceremony has not completely dissipated. It will not be enough to do any lasting harm, but it will be enough to destroy this temple." He paused. "You need to leave. NOW!"
With his last word, the ground beneath their feet began to rumble. It was like a minor earthquake was starting. She glanced over to Jareth. Lucivar picked him up and disappeared. Great. He was just going to leave them?
Chunks of rock began to fall from the ceiling of the room.
"Shit," Eric muttered.
"Leave now!" another voice said.
Kelsey knew that that voice did not belong to any of them. It sounded familiar, but she didn't know from where and didn't have time to contemplate it.To Be Continued...
Author's Note: Due to spring break madness, I have decided to update tonight rather than tomorrow as originally planned. My friend and I are taking a road trip and I'm not sure if we're leaving tomorrow or the next day... I do know we're going shopping tomorrow, not that anyone needs to know that. Thanks for reading and reviewing! You guys rock!
