"A Sea of Blood"
Disclaimer:
Same as always. Chapter
1.
And the Madness Continues
Turning to face the others, Zhane stated "I'm gonna go back to the Mega Ship. Ya know, kinda see what I can do. Maybe I can figure out who's doing this and try to stop them." Thinking about it a moment, Andros replied "All right. That's probably a good idea. Just be careful..." Smirking, Zhane added "Aren't I always?"
With that, Zhane left the lab and made his way back to the Mega ship. Back at the lab, Conner noticed Kira looking upset. He wrapped an arm gently around her petite shoulders as he asked her "Hey, you okay?" Looking up into his soft brown eyes, Kira replied "Conner...My name's on some alien freak's hit list...What do you think?" Understanding her fear, Conner replied "Yeah, I know...But look, I'm sure when Zhane finds out anything, I'm sure he'll let us know."
Approaching the young couple, Tori rested a hand on Kira's shoulder as she assured her "Conner's right, Kira. Don't worry, we're gonna get this taken care of..." Nodding his head, Cam added in agreement "Yeah, Kira. Don't worry, this'll all be over soon." Knowing that Cam and Tori were right, Kira replied "Yeah, I know. This whole situation just has me kinda stressed..."
Understanding her stress, Blake added "Yeah, I think this whole mess has us all a little freaked out..." Listening to the agreement, everyone in the room nodded their agreement. Appreciating their attempts to comfort her, Kira replied "Thanks, guys. I'll just feel a hell of a lot better once this is all over..." Knowing how she felt, everyone else in the room agreed. They all felt the same way. None of them would be at ease until the whole thing was sorted out.
Turning to face his sister, Andros noticed she looked a little upset. Approaching her, he rested a hand on her shoulder, he asked her "Are you okay?" Turning to her brother, Karone added "I'm fine. I'm just worried about Zhane." Understanding her concern, Andros replied "I know. But, hey, listen...Zhane's a fighter. He can take care of himself..." Knowing he was right, Karone added "Yeah, I know you're right...I just can't help but worry about him..."
Suddenly, something on the list caught Kira's eye as she stated "Uh, guys...you might wanna check this out..." Turning to get a look at the list, everyone's jaws nearly hit the floor in shock. The names on the list read Kapri and...Zhane...Realizing what this meant, Karone stated "I'm going after him..."
Just as she made to leave, Andros gently grabbed her shoulder and stopped her. "Karone, he's probably taken off already..." Thinking a moment, Tommy added "Wait a minute...Hayley, can you find an invisiportal leading to Zhane?" Turning to the computer, Hayley started a search for invisiportals leading to the Mega Ship. A few moments later, she found one and had transferred the opening to the lab. "There..." She stated.
Not wanting her to go alone, Andros added "I'm coming with you..." Appreciating his concern, Karone replied "Andros, no. You should stay here in case the others need you." Not taking 'no' for an answer, Andros continued "Look, Karone. You're my sister. I'm not gonna let you do this alone. And that's final." Wanting to help rather than just sit around and wait, Ashley approached Andros and Karone.
"I'm coming with you, too." Understanding her concern, Andros replied "Ashley, no. You need to stay here in case anything happens while we're gone..." Not backing down, Ashley added "No way...There's no way I'm staying here and just sitting around waiting for someone to come kill me...I'm coming with you." Ignoring Ashley, Andros & Karone stepped through the portal. Sighing slightly, Ashley noticed nobody else was paying attention to the portal and just before it closed, she managed to sneak through it.
Meanwhile, back at the lab, Cassie had decided that she'd had just about all she could take of just sitting around and waiting. "I gotta get outta here...I'm goin' insane just sitting around waiting." Turning to T.J., Carlos saw that they shared the same expression. Facing Cassie, he stated "We'll come with you." Knowing where Carlos was going with this, T.J. added "Yeah, it's probably not smart for anyone to be wondering around alone right now."
Nodding in agreement with T.J., Tommy added "Yeah, that's a good idea. Be careful you, three." Turning to Tommy, Cassie added "I don't know about them, but, I sure as hell plan to..." Carlos and T.J. both nodded their agreement. With that, Cassie, T.J., and Carlos made their way out of the lab and began exploring the woods outside.
Watching as the trio made their exit, Hunter stated "Hope everything goes okay with those three..." Turning to his brother, Blake added "No lie..." Everyone just either mumbled their agreement or nodded. A tense silence had befallen the group as they waited to hear from Zhane.
Meanwhile, outside the woods, a faint rustling could be heard in the bushes and trees behind the trio as they continued their hike. Not noticing the rustling, Cassie stated "Man, I just wish none of this had ever happened. That we'd never even intercepted that message in the first place..." Agreeing with Cassie, Carlos added "Yeah, I know what you mean...I hate all this waiting around while being totally helpless..." Knowing how they both felt, T.J. added "Yeah. I mean, if I had to choose, I'd rather be murdered without expecting rather than just sit around knowing someone's out to get me and not be able to do a damn thing about it..." Though they all agreed, they didn't really wanna say it.
Suddenly, one of the creatures in the bushes behind the three rangers silently made his way up behind Carlos and cupped it's hand over his mouth and silently dragged him off behind the bushes. Without realizing it had happened, Cassie turned to talk to Carlos "Man, this fresh air's a welcome change to all the stress isn't it, Carlos?" When she received no response, Cassie asked "Carlos?...Carlos?" Noticing him missing as well, T.J. looked around only to find that he was nowhere to be seen.
"He was just here..." T.J. commented, searching for the black ranger. Suddenly, they heard a faint scream of pain coming from the bushes. Running toward the scream, they soon found the origin. Hiding behind a tree, they watched as the creature reared it's arm back with a dagger with a six inch blade and thrusted it sharply into Carlos's chest. Listening as he screamed in agony, Cassie and T.J. watched as they slowly removed the blade which was dripping with crimson blood. Just before they were about to run in to help him, they watched as the creature used the same blade to slowly and carefully slit Carlos's throat from ear to ear.
Just then, the creatures picked up on Cassie and T.J.'s presence. Dragging them with little effort into the area where they had just murdered Carlos, the creatures effortlessly bound them to a tree. All but laughing at their feeble attempts at escape, they just watched as Cassie screamed "Carlos!" Finally the creatures had had enough and pulled out daggers similar to the one that they had used to kill Carlos and began slowly torturing the two remaining rangers. Finally, they thrusted the daggers sharply into the two rangers' chests and just left them for dead. Within minutes, Cassie, T.J., and Carlos were all dead.
