Chapter 3- A Secret on Aquitar
Kimberly looked straight ahead, she hated bad news more than anything she had to deal with. Bad news meant many after shocks that caused more pain. Jason seemed speechless, and she didn't want to pressure him into telling her what was going on. She sighed when he finally broke the silence.
Jason couldn't believe Adam's news, he was sure that within a few hours the base would be re-built, just like it had when Rita and Zedd attacked it. But this time, there was no backup that Zordon and Alpha had created. It was really gone. "Kim, that was Adam. I think that long ride I mentioned earlier should be shortened,"
Kim sighed, he still seemed to be avoiding it, she couldn't handle his secrecy anymore. "Jason, what's wrong?" she asked loudly.
Jason couldn't even gather the correct words to even explain what he'd been told. "Kim, the Rangers, we think they've been murdered,"
Kim's eyes bulged. "What? Murdered? How?"
"Divatox, she's attacked the Power Chamber, and it's gone,"
"But Jase," Kim responded. "You don't really think?"
"I don't know Kim," Jason shook his head. "All I know is what Adam told me. He hasn't heard from them at all, but he couldn't find any life forms in the rubble,"
"Jason, come on, they are Power Rangers," Kimberly said hopefully. "They've probably escaped."
"I hope so too, but I think we need to get back to Angel Grove as fast as possible," Jason replied.
Jason wasn't sure what he was going to do, he had a rental car, but he'd made a commitment to the Power Rangers, and no price was worth breaking that. He wretch into the left pocket of his jeans and pulled out a silver contraption that resembled a watch. On the panel which usually displayed time, three strips were elevated suggesting a power source. He turned to Kimberly and frowned. "Kim, if you don't want to come back with me now, then take the car, and take this money and check into a hotel. I hope you understand why I have to do th-"
Before Jason could even finish his sentence, Kimberly had pushed up a five layered pink bracelet to reveal her communicator. She smiled at him, signifying that she too was ready to return to their past. "I've kept this on me since the Island," she laughed.
Jason smiled, he knew Kimberly had more passion for her past as a Power Ranger then she'd let on. "Hopefully, these will still allow us to at least teleport to the location of the Command Center," Jason said. "So pray that the teleportation system still has enough juice in them for this,"
Kimberly nodded. "There's a twenty-four hour Wal-Mart a few blocks up the road, that'd probably be the best place to park the car,"
"Yeah, hopefully they won't tow it," Jason responded as he followed Kimberly's directions, traffic was moving slowly, but it was only his imagination, and he could feel the sweat pouring off his fingertips. The possibility of the final end to the Power Rangers ran through his mind like wildfire.
They'd finally approached the Wal-Mart parking lot. It was bustling with business, and customers were constantly entering and exiting the structure. Jason was unsure if it was safe to teleport in front of them, especially if there was a malfunction, and they had caused too much attention to themselves. He glanced around, and decided it'd be best to teleport behind the building near the loading docks. Kimberly agreed with him, and together they made their way past the store entrance and around the corner.
After looking around to make sure no one was watching, Jason turned to Kimberly and grinned. It'd been the first time he'd tried teleporting in a long time, and he was sure it was the same for her. It was an experience that few had ever experienced, instantaneous travel, and he'd often wondered if it'd be modernized someday.
"Are you ready?" Jason asked.
Kimberly nodded, and got into a mandatory stance that she'd always used when she was the Pink Ranger. She suddenly felt nervous, she'd done it plenty of times before, but it had seemed like eternity since she'd felt the pink energy flow over her body and lifting her off into the air. It'd be like the first time again.
The sound of two identical beeps were heard, and something strange happened, something that had never happened before during their teleportation time as Power Rangers. Instead of their traditional colors, white energy bolts covered their bodies. Finally they felt themselves being lifted into the air.
It seemed as if the teleportation process had taken long this time, but within minutes, they found themselves staring up at large mountains. The infamous dome like structure was nowhere to be seen, but mountains of smoke poured from where it once sat. It was unearthly that it was gone.
"Wow, the teleportation systems must be totaled," was Jason's response to where they had landed. He looked up at place that he'd considered a second home, creating a mental image. "The structure was destroyed, but I could still see it in my mind, I could still see the five of us, confused, afraid, as we made our way into the unknown," Jason's mind wrote. It had been the day that he, Kimberly, Trini, Zack, and Billy exited the Command Center, refusing to believe Zordon's nonsense story. It was in those very mountains that they had morphed for the first time. The scene brought tears to his eyes.
Kimberly was in tears. She couldn't believe what she saw, she'd seen the building through many stages of its life, even when she was trapped in the 1800's. It was her escape from the pressures of high school, and Alpha 5 had always been someone to voice her problems to. She turned to Jason and buried her face into his chest. "I can't believe it's gone," she cried.
Jason placed his hands on Kimberly's shoulders and kissed her head. "It'll be okay Kim," Truthfully, he didn't know if things were going to be okay, but he hoped his words of comfort would last long enough until they found out more information.
---
In outer space, an enormous saucer ship hovered over the watery planet of Aquitar. The ship was half real, and have composed of empty green gridlines, but its rotation was consistent. Aboard, Astronema, the new self- claimed Princess of Evil blasted at a squadron of her Quattro's. One of her sphinx ships had just been destroyed by Power Rangers.
"I thought Divatox destroyed those idiots!" Astronema growled. "This has made me very angry!"
Elgar, Divatox's nephew, and former henchman stumbled into the hallway outside of the control room. "Astronema!" he screeched. "Dark Specter is requesting your presence at the viewing globe,"
"Ugh, what does he want?" Astronema mumbled under her breath.
She walked into the control room, and bowed to Dark Specter, whose massive body populated the viewing screen in its entirety. "Why have you sent me here?" she said in an angry tone.
"Astronema!" Dark Specter usually greeted. "My sources tell me that there is an Earthen Ranger staying on the planet. He may have some clues to who this new rogue Red Ranger is,"
Astronema sighed, wondering if he should report her encounter with the four Earthen Rangers, but decided against it, in fear of loosing her position for her failure. "They aren't going to allow me to walk in and ask questions,"
"If you come in contact with any resistance, it is inarguable that you will receive help from the Hydro Contaminators. That should open up their grasp," Dark Specter answered. "Don't fail me,"
Astronema nodded as Dark Specter's image faded away. She was familiar with the Aquitan race, in fact, one of them had once devoted loyalty to the United Alliance of Evil. She was prepared to interrogate them, but had never interrogated a humanoid and received a proper answer. "Elgar, prepare the Dark-Sub, and set a course for the Aquitan city,"
"Aye ye Captain!" uttered Elgar stupidly.
---
Kimberly and Jason had hiked there way back into the city, it'd been about a three hour trip, but when they could finally see civilization, Kimberly jumped into Jason's arms. It was great being back in Angel Grove, and give or take a few missing buildings, it was just as she left it. She was utterly disgusted with the Juice Bar's replacement, but agreed that the French fries were great. Jason had called Zack, who responded immediately to his call when he'd heard the news. Adam still hadn't contacted them, and things were growing more tense by the minute. Kimberly stood at the payphones desperately trying to reach Trini in Switzerland, but with no luck, she returned to the table at which Jason, and Zack were sitting.
"I can't believe the two of you don't know how to get in touch with her," she sat down next to Zack. "She deserves to know this as much as we do,"
"Trini wasn't exactly a sociable person when we left Kim," Zack replied. "She didn't even say good bye when I left,"
Kimberly had a hard time believing that, if there was one thing she knew about Trini Kwan, it was that she cared about her family and friends more than anything. It was one of Trini's self-passions. "I would have written you guys, but your departure was so sudden, that we never got addresses," Kimberly added. "What about her parents?"
"Mr. And Mrs. Kwan?" Jason asked. "They moved out to Reefside a few years ago, it'd be a long shot, but maybe it's worth it,"
"I've got a better idea," Zack spoke up. "Our families were given addresses to our station, and I'm sure they'd be able forward it to Trini,"
"That's a great idea, Zack," Kimberly responded. "Much easier then tracking down her parents,"
"Now the question is...who's going to write it?" Jason asked.
That was an easy answer, in Zack's mind anyway. Kimberly and Trini had always been the closest in the team as far as personal stuff. Trini was saddened that Kimberly had never attempted to contact her, and he thought that was why she shadowed herself from both him and Jason. "I think Kimberly should write it,"
Jason agreed. He figured Kimberly would know the right things to say to Trini, but Kimberly was terrified. She hadn't spoken with Trini since 1994, and didn't even know if she'd changed. She nodded however. "I guess I should get started right away, we need to get her out her as soon as possible,"
"How are we going to get in contact with Billy?" Zack said to Jason.
"Well, Billy's garage is still there, and I'm sure there is still some kind of communication device there, unless his father has cleaned it out," Jason responded.
Billy's father was amazed that his son had gone off to another planet, although he didn't quite understand it, he never questioned Billy's intelligence, and wanted his son to be happy. Jason broke the news to him, and didn't know quite how to explain it. Mr. Cranston called him crazy, but when Jason delivered the video message Billy had sent from Aquitar, he had no choice.
"We should get over there later," Zack responded. "But after that, I'm done."
"What do you mean? "Jason asked.
Zack tensed up. "I'm doing fine. I've got my own studio for crying out loud...do I really need to get my self back into this Power Rangers thing?"
Jason was somewhat shocked by his friend's answer. He knew that Zack always had important things in life, but what could be more important than saving the world? "I guess that's something you'll have to decide for yourself, but I want you to remember the promise you made Zordon,"
"What promise?" Zack asked. Then he remembered, when they'd defeated Rita's Cyclopsis the five of them had promised to stay Rangers, in any shape or form. The memory made him smile. "I'm sorry Jase," he mumbled. "I guess I shouldn't have said that,"
"No problem bro," Jason responded.
Zack's eyes lit up. Jason hadn't called him bro since they departed from Angel Grove, and Zack often wondered why. "Yeah, let's focus on getting Billy back home." Zack responded.
---
Astronema's submarine plunged into the depths of the Aquitan ocean, and slowly approached the submerged Aquitan domed city. Astronema glared at the planet's beauty, it's enchanting orange skies were invisible from outer space, and it cast an eerie glow upon the water. The submarine received no resistance as it entered through the gooey vortex that separated the city from the water.
Aquitans swimming in the water near the city gate scowled at the ship that bared Dark Specter's banner. The Aquitans were expecting them, ever since the Dark Fortress entered into the planet's atmosphere. The submarine docked, and Astronema stepped out of it. She was amazed at the beauty of what looked like a simple dome from the outside. High aqua towers, and archways with circular windows cast beautiful watery reflections on it's sand painted street. Aquitan civilians lined the streets and tried to ignore the visitors.
Followed closely by Ecliptor, and a squad of Quantrons, Astronema motioned for one of the Aquitan males. "Take me to the Aquitan Ranger's Base,"
The Aquitan nodded in fear, and slowly made his way towards a large Dome which was suspended high in the air, and a crystal stair case led up to it's entrance. On the steps, one of the Aquitan council members Cestria stood awaiting for Astronema.
"Well if it isn't Cestria, Aquitan scum, former Alliance Member?" Astronema said with a tasteless voice. "Take me to the Earthling Ranger, immediately,"
"I don't take orders from the likes of you, only from the Aquitan Rangers," Cestria responded.
"Then take me to the Aquitan Rangers, or I'll reveal your connections to the Alliance," she threatened.
Cestria stepped back. She knew if the Aquitan Rangers found out about her connection to the United Alliance Evil, she'd be banished from the city for good. She'd never see Billy again, and she wouldn't be able to cope with that loss. Her affiliation with the Alliance had been due to her parents hatred of the Aquitan Rangers. It was when she discovered how evil Dark Specter was that she'd broken away. She looked at Astronema and frowned. "The Aquitan Rangers have joined the search for Zordon, they've left me in charge of the planet,"
"Ah, and I wonder what they'd say if they knew about your little mistake," Astronema answered. "Never mind that for now, however, I have other things to discuss,"
"And that would be?" Cestria asked.
"The human teenager that you have here, tell me about him," Astronema questioned. "I know that he was one of Zordon's original Power Rangers, and I'm sure he knows about this rogue, and mysterious Red Ranger and his four pathetic Earthen Rangers,"
Cestria's lips pursed. "The Ranger you speak of is a Kerovian from KO- 35, and the four Rangers, from what our scanners have determined recently lost their powers due to Divatox. The human, you speak of was the original Blue Ranger, but he has devoted his life to me know, and knows nothing of the recent crisis on Earth, or Eltar,"
"Make sure it stays that way," Astronema growled. "Or Aquitar will be wiped off the map," Astronema turned to go, but stopped when Cestria spoke again.
"Your threats mean nothing here," Cestria said gracefully. "Your Grand Monarch thinks he's so smart, but his plans are about to be meddled even further. Zordon has foreseen the future, he built the Kerovian Morphers himself, his last mission before he was captured by your forces. Watch your back princess,"
As Cestria turned to go, Astronema aimed her staff at one of the large water generators that mined water from the Aquitan Eternal Falls. Blasts emitted from the tip of her staff, and sparks flew from the large structure. The attack caused an uproar in the city.
"NO!" Cestria cried out. "You've destroyed one of our two mining generators,"
"Do I as I Cestria, or you can kiss you Eternal Falls goodbye," Astronema turned around and made her way back towards the submarine.
As they passed the streets for the final time, Ecliptor spit at one of the Aquitan children, who erupted into tears, and ran for the comfort of his mother. Cestria watched as they boarded the sub, and exited through the vortex. The base doors opened, and Billy Cranston stepped through them.
"Hey Cestria, what was that loud eruption of sound?" he asked looking around. "Oh no," he said, viewing the generator. "What happened?"
"Malfunction," Cestria lied. "Nothing our technical staff can't fix, let's go back inside my love, we have many things to talk about,"
"Yes, and I was wondering when the Alien Rangers were returning from their mission you spoke of earlier? I needed to talk to Delphine about the communication system," Billy asked.
Cestria glanced as the dark shadow of the sub finally faded, and turned to Billy. "Let's not talk about the Alien Rangers right now," she smiled. "Besides, they're not on any mission, they've gone to visit Trey on Triforia," she leaned forward and kissed him gently on the lips.
Billy glanced at the viewing globe and sighed. He had a bad feeling about something, he didn't know what, but something was definitely wrong.
To Be Continued...
Kimberly looked straight ahead, she hated bad news more than anything she had to deal with. Bad news meant many after shocks that caused more pain. Jason seemed speechless, and she didn't want to pressure him into telling her what was going on. She sighed when he finally broke the silence.
Jason couldn't believe Adam's news, he was sure that within a few hours the base would be re-built, just like it had when Rita and Zedd attacked it. But this time, there was no backup that Zordon and Alpha had created. It was really gone. "Kim, that was Adam. I think that long ride I mentioned earlier should be shortened,"
Kim sighed, he still seemed to be avoiding it, she couldn't handle his secrecy anymore. "Jason, what's wrong?" she asked loudly.
Jason couldn't even gather the correct words to even explain what he'd been told. "Kim, the Rangers, we think they've been murdered,"
Kim's eyes bulged. "What? Murdered? How?"
"Divatox, she's attacked the Power Chamber, and it's gone,"
"But Jase," Kim responded. "You don't really think?"
"I don't know Kim," Jason shook his head. "All I know is what Adam told me. He hasn't heard from them at all, but he couldn't find any life forms in the rubble,"
"Jason, come on, they are Power Rangers," Kimberly said hopefully. "They've probably escaped."
"I hope so too, but I think we need to get back to Angel Grove as fast as possible," Jason replied.
Jason wasn't sure what he was going to do, he had a rental car, but he'd made a commitment to the Power Rangers, and no price was worth breaking that. He wretch into the left pocket of his jeans and pulled out a silver contraption that resembled a watch. On the panel which usually displayed time, three strips were elevated suggesting a power source. He turned to Kimberly and frowned. "Kim, if you don't want to come back with me now, then take the car, and take this money and check into a hotel. I hope you understand why I have to do th-"
Before Jason could even finish his sentence, Kimberly had pushed up a five layered pink bracelet to reveal her communicator. She smiled at him, signifying that she too was ready to return to their past. "I've kept this on me since the Island," she laughed.
Jason smiled, he knew Kimberly had more passion for her past as a Power Ranger then she'd let on. "Hopefully, these will still allow us to at least teleport to the location of the Command Center," Jason said. "So pray that the teleportation system still has enough juice in them for this,"
Kimberly nodded. "There's a twenty-four hour Wal-Mart a few blocks up the road, that'd probably be the best place to park the car,"
"Yeah, hopefully they won't tow it," Jason responded as he followed Kimberly's directions, traffic was moving slowly, but it was only his imagination, and he could feel the sweat pouring off his fingertips. The possibility of the final end to the Power Rangers ran through his mind like wildfire.
They'd finally approached the Wal-Mart parking lot. It was bustling with business, and customers were constantly entering and exiting the structure. Jason was unsure if it was safe to teleport in front of them, especially if there was a malfunction, and they had caused too much attention to themselves. He glanced around, and decided it'd be best to teleport behind the building near the loading docks. Kimberly agreed with him, and together they made their way past the store entrance and around the corner.
After looking around to make sure no one was watching, Jason turned to Kimberly and grinned. It'd been the first time he'd tried teleporting in a long time, and he was sure it was the same for her. It was an experience that few had ever experienced, instantaneous travel, and he'd often wondered if it'd be modernized someday.
"Are you ready?" Jason asked.
Kimberly nodded, and got into a mandatory stance that she'd always used when she was the Pink Ranger. She suddenly felt nervous, she'd done it plenty of times before, but it had seemed like eternity since she'd felt the pink energy flow over her body and lifting her off into the air. It'd be like the first time again.
The sound of two identical beeps were heard, and something strange happened, something that had never happened before during their teleportation time as Power Rangers. Instead of their traditional colors, white energy bolts covered their bodies. Finally they felt themselves being lifted into the air.
It seemed as if the teleportation process had taken long this time, but within minutes, they found themselves staring up at large mountains. The infamous dome like structure was nowhere to be seen, but mountains of smoke poured from where it once sat. It was unearthly that it was gone.
"Wow, the teleportation systems must be totaled," was Jason's response to where they had landed. He looked up at place that he'd considered a second home, creating a mental image. "The structure was destroyed, but I could still see it in my mind, I could still see the five of us, confused, afraid, as we made our way into the unknown," Jason's mind wrote. It had been the day that he, Kimberly, Trini, Zack, and Billy exited the Command Center, refusing to believe Zordon's nonsense story. It was in those very mountains that they had morphed for the first time. The scene brought tears to his eyes.
Kimberly was in tears. She couldn't believe what she saw, she'd seen the building through many stages of its life, even when she was trapped in the 1800's. It was her escape from the pressures of high school, and Alpha 5 had always been someone to voice her problems to. She turned to Jason and buried her face into his chest. "I can't believe it's gone," she cried.
Jason placed his hands on Kimberly's shoulders and kissed her head. "It'll be okay Kim," Truthfully, he didn't know if things were going to be okay, but he hoped his words of comfort would last long enough until they found out more information.
---
In outer space, an enormous saucer ship hovered over the watery planet of Aquitar. The ship was half real, and have composed of empty green gridlines, but its rotation was consistent. Aboard, Astronema, the new self- claimed Princess of Evil blasted at a squadron of her Quattro's. One of her sphinx ships had just been destroyed by Power Rangers.
"I thought Divatox destroyed those idiots!" Astronema growled. "This has made me very angry!"
Elgar, Divatox's nephew, and former henchman stumbled into the hallway outside of the control room. "Astronema!" he screeched. "Dark Specter is requesting your presence at the viewing globe,"
"Ugh, what does he want?" Astronema mumbled under her breath.
She walked into the control room, and bowed to Dark Specter, whose massive body populated the viewing screen in its entirety. "Why have you sent me here?" she said in an angry tone.
"Astronema!" Dark Specter usually greeted. "My sources tell me that there is an Earthen Ranger staying on the planet. He may have some clues to who this new rogue Red Ranger is,"
Astronema sighed, wondering if he should report her encounter with the four Earthen Rangers, but decided against it, in fear of loosing her position for her failure. "They aren't going to allow me to walk in and ask questions,"
"If you come in contact with any resistance, it is inarguable that you will receive help from the Hydro Contaminators. That should open up their grasp," Dark Specter answered. "Don't fail me,"
Astronema nodded as Dark Specter's image faded away. She was familiar with the Aquitan race, in fact, one of them had once devoted loyalty to the United Alliance of Evil. She was prepared to interrogate them, but had never interrogated a humanoid and received a proper answer. "Elgar, prepare the Dark-Sub, and set a course for the Aquitan city,"
"Aye ye Captain!" uttered Elgar stupidly.
---
Kimberly and Jason had hiked there way back into the city, it'd been about a three hour trip, but when they could finally see civilization, Kimberly jumped into Jason's arms. It was great being back in Angel Grove, and give or take a few missing buildings, it was just as she left it. She was utterly disgusted with the Juice Bar's replacement, but agreed that the French fries were great. Jason had called Zack, who responded immediately to his call when he'd heard the news. Adam still hadn't contacted them, and things were growing more tense by the minute. Kimberly stood at the payphones desperately trying to reach Trini in Switzerland, but with no luck, she returned to the table at which Jason, and Zack were sitting.
"I can't believe the two of you don't know how to get in touch with her," she sat down next to Zack. "She deserves to know this as much as we do,"
"Trini wasn't exactly a sociable person when we left Kim," Zack replied. "She didn't even say good bye when I left,"
Kimberly had a hard time believing that, if there was one thing she knew about Trini Kwan, it was that she cared about her family and friends more than anything. It was one of Trini's self-passions. "I would have written you guys, but your departure was so sudden, that we never got addresses," Kimberly added. "What about her parents?"
"Mr. And Mrs. Kwan?" Jason asked. "They moved out to Reefside a few years ago, it'd be a long shot, but maybe it's worth it,"
"I've got a better idea," Zack spoke up. "Our families were given addresses to our station, and I'm sure they'd be able forward it to Trini,"
"That's a great idea, Zack," Kimberly responded. "Much easier then tracking down her parents,"
"Now the question is...who's going to write it?" Jason asked.
That was an easy answer, in Zack's mind anyway. Kimberly and Trini had always been the closest in the team as far as personal stuff. Trini was saddened that Kimberly had never attempted to contact her, and he thought that was why she shadowed herself from both him and Jason. "I think Kimberly should write it,"
Jason agreed. He figured Kimberly would know the right things to say to Trini, but Kimberly was terrified. She hadn't spoken with Trini since 1994, and didn't even know if she'd changed. She nodded however. "I guess I should get started right away, we need to get her out her as soon as possible,"
"How are we going to get in contact with Billy?" Zack said to Jason.
"Well, Billy's garage is still there, and I'm sure there is still some kind of communication device there, unless his father has cleaned it out," Jason responded.
Billy's father was amazed that his son had gone off to another planet, although he didn't quite understand it, he never questioned Billy's intelligence, and wanted his son to be happy. Jason broke the news to him, and didn't know quite how to explain it. Mr. Cranston called him crazy, but when Jason delivered the video message Billy had sent from Aquitar, he had no choice.
"We should get over there later," Zack responded. "But after that, I'm done."
"What do you mean? "Jason asked.
Zack tensed up. "I'm doing fine. I've got my own studio for crying out loud...do I really need to get my self back into this Power Rangers thing?"
Jason was somewhat shocked by his friend's answer. He knew that Zack always had important things in life, but what could be more important than saving the world? "I guess that's something you'll have to decide for yourself, but I want you to remember the promise you made Zordon,"
"What promise?" Zack asked. Then he remembered, when they'd defeated Rita's Cyclopsis the five of them had promised to stay Rangers, in any shape or form. The memory made him smile. "I'm sorry Jase," he mumbled. "I guess I shouldn't have said that,"
"No problem bro," Jason responded.
Zack's eyes lit up. Jason hadn't called him bro since they departed from Angel Grove, and Zack often wondered why. "Yeah, let's focus on getting Billy back home." Zack responded.
---
Astronema's submarine plunged into the depths of the Aquitan ocean, and slowly approached the submerged Aquitan domed city. Astronema glared at the planet's beauty, it's enchanting orange skies were invisible from outer space, and it cast an eerie glow upon the water. The submarine received no resistance as it entered through the gooey vortex that separated the city from the water.
Aquitans swimming in the water near the city gate scowled at the ship that bared Dark Specter's banner. The Aquitans were expecting them, ever since the Dark Fortress entered into the planet's atmosphere. The submarine docked, and Astronema stepped out of it. She was amazed at the beauty of what looked like a simple dome from the outside. High aqua towers, and archways with circular windows cast beautiful watery reflections on it's sand painted street. Aquitan civilians lined the streets and tried to ignore the visitors.
Followed closely by Ecliptor, and a squad of Quantrons, Astronema motioned for one of the Aquitan males. "Take me to the Aquitan Ranger's Base,"
The Aquitan nodded in fear, and slowly made his way towards a large Dome which was suspended high in the air, and a crystal stair case led up to it's entrance. On the steps, one of the Aquitan council members Cestria stood awaiting for Astronema.
"Well if it isn't Cestria, Aquitan scum, former Alliance Member?" Astronema said with a tasteless voice. "Take me to the Earthling Ranger, immediately,"
"I don't take orders from the likes of you, only from the Aquitan Rangers," Cestria responded.
"Then take me to the Aquitan Rangers, or I'll reveal your connections to the Alliance," she threatened.
Cestria stepped back. She knew if the Aquitan Rangers found out about her connection to the United Alliance Evil, she'd be banished from the city for good. She'd never see Billy again, and she wouldn't be able to cope with that loss. Her affiliation with the Alliance had been due to her parents hatred of the Aquitan Rangers. It was when she discovered how evil Dark Specter was that she'd broken away. She looked at Astronema and frowned. "The Aquitan Rangers have joined the search for Zordon, they've left me in charge of the planet,"
"Ah, and I wonder what they'd say if they knew about your little mistake," Astronema answered. "Never mind that for now, however, I have other things to discuss,"
"And that would be?" Cestria asked.
"The human teenager that you have here, tell me about him," Astronema questioned. "I know that he was one of Zordon's original Power Rangers, and I'm sure he knows about this rogue, and mysterious Red Ranger and his four pathetic Earthen Rangers,"
Cestria's lips pursed. "The Ranger you speak of is a Kerovian from KO- 35, and the four Rangers, from what our scanners have determined recently lost their powers due to Divatox. The human, you speak of was the original Blue Ranger, but he has devoted his life to me know, and knows nothing of the recent crisis on Earth, or Eltar,"
"Make sure it stays that way," Astronema growled. "Or Aquitar will be wiped off the map," Astronema turned to go, but stopped when Cestria spoke again.
"Your threats mean nothing here," Cestria said gracefully. "Your Grand Monarch thinks he's so smart, but his plans are about to be meddled even further. Zordon has foreseen the future, he built the Kerovian Morphers himself, his last mission before he was captured by your forces. Watch your back princess,"
As Cestria turned to go, Astronema aimed her staff at one of the large water generators that mined water from the Aquitan Eternal Falls. Blasts emitted from the tip of her staff, and sparks flew from the large structure. The attack caused an uproar in the city.
"NO!" Cestria cried out. "You've destroyed one of our two mining generators,"
"Do I as I Cestria, or you can kiss you Eternal Falls goodbye," Astronema turned around and made her way back towards the submarine.
As they passed the streets for the final time, Ecliptor spit at one of the Aquitan children, who erupted into tears, and ran for the comfort of his mother. Cestria watched as they boarded the sub, and exited through the vortex. The base doors opened, and Billy Cranston stepped through them.
"Hey Cestria, what was that loud eruption of sound?" he asked looking around. "Oh no," he said, viewing the generator. "What happened?"
"Malfunction," Cestria lied. "Nothing our technical staff can't fix, let's go back inside my love, we have many things to talk about,"
"Yes, and I was wondering when the Alien Rangers were returning from their mission you spoke of earlier? I needed to talk to Delphine about the communication system," Billy asked.
Cestria glanced as the dark shadow of the sub finally faded, and turned to Billy. "Let's not talk about the Alien Rangers right now," she smiled. "Besides, they're not on any mission, they've gone to visit Trey on Triforia," she leaned forward and kissed him gently on the lips.
Billy glanced at the viewing globe and sighed. He had a bad feeling about something, he didn't know what, but something was definitely wrong.
To Be Continued...