Tori gritted her teeth and tried to fight against the lizarians that were dragging her down the hall. They were too strong for her in her unmorphed state. She could see why hundreds of them would be formidable enemies. They were strong and vicious from what she had seen. It made her appreciate Kelzacks more.
The lizarians dragged her into a small room not that far from the holding cells and even as she struggled they strapped her down to a table. Without a glance back at her the two creatures left the room in silence. Tori sighed deeply and hoped she wouldn't be left waiting for long. Her imagination was filling in the blanks about what could happen next and none of it was pretty.
It seemed like hours before the doors slid open and Kalix sauntered in. She realized now that she had grossly underestimated Kalix. Physically he appeared to be no threat, but he was obviously much more dangerous than she ever thought. Amias told her about Kalix's psychic powers, which made it sound like an X-men comic book characters, but also made him sound extremely dangerous. She had healthy dose of fear and respect for the reptile being.
"Well, you are the prettiest prisoner I've had in a long time." Kalix said, eyeing her.
Tori felt her stomach clench. Oh that was a disgusting thought. She didn't really find it much of a compliment that a raptor-like creature found her pretty.
"Now, I'll cut right to the chase. Where is the place you call Ninja Ops?"
"Like I'd tell you."
"You'd be surprised what a little torture can do." Kalix replied with a sickening grin. He walked around her head to where she had to tilt it back to see him. "I'm not going to waste physical torture. I'm willing to bet you don't have the kind of psychic defenses my other prisoners have developed."
"You'll never get anything out of me."
"Willingly no, but I'm sure I can rip a few things right out of your mind."
Tori tried to brace herself, but she didn't even know what to expect. Kalix's yellow eyes seemed to take on a brighter glow and then all hell broke loose. The door into the room slid open and blue lightning crackled through the air, striking Kalix. The raptor was thrown across the room into the hard metal wall. Tori was shocked, but very relieved to see Blake rush into the room. The Navy Thunder Ranger hit Kalix one more time to make sure the raptor stayed down before going to Tori's side. He tried to unlatch her, but when that wasn't successful he forcefully broke each one, showing a strength he normally hid.
"I'm so glad to see you." Tori said.
Blake helped her up and steadied her as she swayed. "I couldn't leave you here."
"There are other rangers. We have to set them free too." Tori told him.
"No time." Blake replied, leading her by her arm out of the room.
"I can't leave them behind." Tori argued.
"Tori, they're not our problem."
Blake grabbed her arm and led her down the hall. She didn't have the strength to fight him, but something about the whole situation suddenly seemed very wrong. He seemed to know where he was going and judging by the lizarians knocked out everywhere he had already been through there. He turned suddenly and pulled her into a room that turned out to have a transporter. She watched as he went over to one of the consoles and began typing. It seemed wrong, something about it was off. He seemed to get the transporter working as it lit up with a bright beam.
"C'mon."
Tori dug her heels in as he tried to drag her to it. "No, I can't leave those rangers behind."
"We can't help them. The Psychos will be here any second." Blake argued. "We have to get out of here."
Blake grabbed her by the arm and with a rough tug they both stepped into the transport beam and were instantaneously transported to Earth. She felt an intense flash of anger at being forced to leave the other rangers behind. She took a step away from Blake and opened his mouth to say something, when suddenly Shane and Dustin were attacking Blake. It gave her a flashback of when Blake and Hunter had been fighting against them only Blake was putting up half the fight he did before. Dustin sent him sprawling with a smack of his Lion Hammer and Shane followed it with a shot from his Hawk Blaster.
Suddenly pain lanced through her head and there was a bright flash of light. She could no longer see her three teammates or the fight that had been going on.
You're better than I thought, but not good enough. I will find what I want.
ZzZzZ
Zadan paced back and forth in his room. He was torn between his loyalty to Kalix and his love for Niko. He wasn't afraid to admit his feelings to himself. He loved Niko, much more than he should have, but the feelings were too strong to deny anymore. But at the same time he felt a compulsion to stay with Kalix. Then there was the idea of destroying his necklace. He couldn't believe Niko had even suggested it. Niko knew how much the necklace meant to him, it was precious too him, but as he thought about it he couldn't remember why. He couldn't remember what made it so important to him or much of what had happened before he found it. There was something murky and hidden behind a yellow haze that he knew he should remember.
"You're doing it, aren't you." He murmured, glaring at the necklace laid out on his table. "There's a good reason why Niko wants me to destroy you. What are you hiding from me?"
With determination he morphed and snatched up the necklace. Almost instantly he could feel his mind being pulled toward staying with Kalix, but his heart stayed firm. He sent an experimental charge through it and gasped as the effect was reflected in his mind as a sharp stabbing pain. That settled it; he knew he had to destroy it. He set the necklace on the floor and pulled his scythe.
"This better not kill me Niko or I'll come back and haunt you." He promised his friend, wishing in that instant that Niko was with him.
Then he swung the scythe down. In an instant the world flashed bright white and he bit back a yell of agony. He fell to his knees, holding his head, and then collapsed into darkness.
ZzZzZ
"Tori help me."
Tori gasped and rushed forward. Dustin was sprawled on the ground with a sword sticking out of his stomach. She dropped to her knees beside him, eyes filling with tears. She knew there was nothing they could do for him. It was a fatal wound quickly bleeding him dry. She grabbed one of his bloody hands and held him.
"Oh god Dustin..."
"Ninja Ops." Dustin murmured. "Take me to Ninja Ops."
She knew she couldn't move him, but she also couldn't just sit around and let him die. She really wished they had a teleporter system, but they didn't and she didn't know what to do. She squeezed his hand and listened to his breath hitch a little.
"Ninja Ops." Dustin insisted, his voice soft and losing strength. "Please."
"I can't move you Dustin." Tori argued.
"Take me to Ninja Ops."
Tori cocked her head and Dustin's uncharacteristic insistence. There was something wrong other than the fact that one of her best friends had a sword in his stomach. Then she got a good look at the sword and gasped. It was one of theirs, a Ninja Sword. It was then her instincts kicked in and she turned in time to see Shane, Hunter, and Blake rush into the scene. Blake and Hunter dragged her away while Shane viciously attacked Dustin and for some strange reason she didn't feel the need to protect her yellow clad comrade. That told her all she needed to know.
"You can't fool me that easily Kalix!"
You will tell me what I want to know little ranger. It is only a matter of time.
ZzZzZ
Niko growled softly in deep frustration as Shane and Hunter continued to ask him endless questions about his ex-teammates. They wanted to know weaknesses and strengths, anything that could give them an upper hand. Niko just wanted to bust their heads together and be done with it, but he kept his temper in check. Jakol would have been proud of him.
"Look," He finally snapped, silencing the two rangers. "I've told you all I can. Dariv and Terik, Red and Crimson to you, are going to be more of a threat now that they're working together. Aurias is out of the picture for now and hopefully Zadan will take my advice and destroy the necklace. I don't know what else you want from me."
"Well, you could tell us about Kalix. What kind of threat does he pose?" Shane asked.
"Kalix is more of a threat than you or Lothor could possibly realize." Niko said. "He has 500 battleships all together, including the one here, his flagship. Each battleship has 200 lizarians, five hundred Dedians, 600 droigs, and fifty monsters and carries 200 wingers. Each battleship has one general on board and each general commands one hundred cruisers. One cruiser can carry 50 lizarians, 100 Dedians, 200 droigs, and 5 monsters and has 50 wingers. You do the math."
Cam paled. "That's about 28,450,000 foot soldiers all together."
The rangers sat in stunned shock at the sheer numbers of a force like that. It was an unimaginable force like nothing they ever imagined facing. Just what they were up against in the immediate area was frightening enough, but thinking about what kind of force Kalix could potentially throw at them. It was something no ranger team before them had ever faced. It was a threat much, much worse than Lothor could hope to be.
"How can he have so many foot soldiers and why the different kinds?" Blake asked.
"Forget that," Shane spoke up before Niko could answer. "Can you tell us about the foot soldiers? Monsters we have an idea about, but what about the others."
"The Lizarians are replicated using Kalix's own DNA for a base. They don't have all his psychic abilities, but they are all mentally connected in a way no one understands yet." Niko explained. "They're the cannon fodder even though there are generally fewer of them than anything else. They're the easiest to replace because they don't have armor or carry any weapons. You'll encounter them before anything else and they'll be the easiest to kill."
"Kill?" Dustin repeated, a little color draining from his face. When fighting and defeating Kelzacks he'd never considered it killing because they didn't seem to be actual viable life forms. They didn't have a free will of their own and that made defeating them easy. He wasn't sure he was ready to become a killer.
Niko favored him with a sympathetic look. "I understand how you feel. Our enemy before Kalix used robots and when I first killed a lizarian I felt like I'd done a terrible thing until one of them stabbed my best friend and I had to rush him to the medical center. They're essentially clones of Kalix, but they are living breathing creatures with a limited amount of free will and each has its own personality."
"We're going to become murderers." Dustin didn't look at all pleased by the idea.
"When it comes down to your planet or them you're justified in your actions." Kale spoke up for the first time. He had been silently listening to Niko's information, but felt it was time to make his wisdom known. "You're going to be fighting a war Dustin as the only soldiers that can really make a difference."
"I'm not a killer."
"Dustin, we can't just stand by and watch Kalix wipe out our world when we may be the only force that can stop him." Shane said softly, but firmly. "I for one will do what I can to stop him. Tori will agree with me. Are you going to let us fight alone?"
"Never." Dustin replied with finality that Shane understood. Dustin would never let his two best friends fight alone. He would be by their side to the bitter end.
ZzZzZ
"I'm very disappointed in you Kalix. You obviously don't have very good control of the Psycho Rangers." Lothor growled angrily. "The traitor has been in your midst for how long? Who knows what he has done."
"My lord, nothing has happened that I haven't expected and prepared for." Kalix replied.
"You knew there was a traitor and didn't do anything about it!" Lothor was getting angrier by the second.
Kalix dismissed his anger. "Everything is going as planned Lothor. I promise when my plan goes into action you'll be pleased with the results."
"I had better be Kalix. Any more mess ups and you won't be command of anything." Lothor hissed and then the view screen went blank.
Kalix laughed at the threat. He couldn't wait to show Lothor what exactly he was up against. He was going to make Lothor regret ever banishing him. If Lothor hadn't banished him he never would have come across the Draians. The bumbling idiots hadn't had a clue what they had. Their cloning facilities were used to create workers of sorts, but the peaceful, complacent people had never considered the military implications of what they had. He had broken into one of the facilities during the night and in twelve hours created an army of over a hundred creatures he'd called Lizarians. He'd used the Lizarians to enslave the Draians and the cloning facilities became his single greatest assets.
"My lord Master Kalix."
Kalix broke out of his memories and focused his attention on Deder. His second in command bowed in a show of respect. "What is it?"
"General Tarnin just reported in." Deder said in his emotionless voice. "He is almost finished with the Rangers of Draqan and then he will bring his fleet here to support you."
"Contact him and tell him that he is to stay in the Goralla System until I call for him."
"Yes Master."
Kalix watched with immense satisfaction as Deder left the command room. Five years ago Deder would have put up a hell of a fight and told Kalix to suffocate in the dark depths of space rather than obediently obey him. Deder had been one of three Sentinels protecting his planet when Kalix had attacked. Deder had welded the power of Fire and Courage, but it hadn't been enough. Kalix had captured him and then had a hell of a time breaking the powerful young man. In the end Kalix had wiped his mind clean of memories and emotions and instead replaced them with the single thought of serving Kalix. Deder had faithfully served him ever since.
And that was what he had planned for Tori. She was resisting his efforts to pry information from her mind. Getting something specific from a mind wasn't an easy thing to begin with. She had to almost lead him to the information in her mind before he could actually take it. Her defenses were proving to be better than he had expected, but he knew he only had to play the right scenario and she would all but tell him what he wanted to know. Then he would forcefully wipe her mind clean, a much easier task, and make her a loyal servant.
There was only so long she could hold him off. Then she would be his.
ZzZzZ
"Dedians are clones of Kalix's second in command, Deder. They wear suits made of a special metal that's light but very, very tough. Their helmets are equipped with computers that link them to Deder and he can control them or give them orders to follow. They have limited free will that goes only as far as adapting during battle. They're armed with blasters as well as swords made of the same metal as their armor."
"So, we'd be killing them too." Dustin sounded disappointed, but his resolve to fight beside his friends was absolute.
"Yes, but unlike the Lizarians they have no emotions and no true free will." Niko said. "They're like drones."
"I can deal with that."
"That's all well and good, but the biggest threat you'll face, other than monsters and the other Psychos of course, are the droigs." Niko said. "They're massive, bad tempered, stupid, aggressive creatures who are a threat to their own forces if not controlled properly. They pretty much work for Kalix of their own free will. They live to fight, kill, and destroy and he promises them all of that and then provides plenty of chances. He clones them as well, but unlike the other two he doesn't mess with their genetic make-up or personalities. I think he likes their aggressive, brutal nature and he doesn't want to change them. Droigs make up the largest number of his foot soldiers."
"What kind of chance do we stand against someone like Kalix?" Blake murmured as everything sank in.
"None if you give up hope." Niko replied. "You must have faith in yourself and your teammates. The closer you become, the better team you become, the better chance you have of beating him."
"Has anyone beat him?" Dustin asked.
"Of course, he's not all powerful. The Armed Covenant of Terosia sent him packing with his tail between his legs." Niko said. "A few others have managed to beat him back, but this planet is no where near as advanced as those. Hope will be your greatest weapon. Just don't give up hope."
ZzZzZ
"Shane!" Tori cried out in horror as Psycho Red snatched up her friend by his throat.
Tori started toward them, but Red sent a warning charge of energy through his captive and she halted immediately. Red laughed at her and gripped Shane tighter about the neck. Shane attempted to swipe at Red with his sword, but the Psycho slapped it out of his hand with frightening ease. Shane's struggles grew sluggish and Tori tried to make a move towards them again, but again Red sent a powerful jolt through Shane. Tori felt her heart pound hard as she realized she was going to watch one of her best friends get strangled because she couldn't do anything.
"Take me to Ninja Ops and I will let him live...for now." Red demanded.
Tori took a step toward them. "No! You know I won't take you there, why do you bother?"
"I will kill him."
"Ninja Ops is our only sanctuary. I won't give it up to you, not even for my best friend's life." Tori growled in return, her resolve firm.
"Tori...please." Shane gasped out.
"Take me to Ninja Ops or I will kill him." Red snarled.
"No, the Shane I know would rather die." Tori replied.
And just like that Dustin, Hunter, and Blake were there attacking Red with vigor. The illusion faded and she heard an angry roar in her mind. Then she was back in the interrogation room, Kalix glaring at her with absolute hatred. She flattened herself against the table as much as she could, fearing his terrible retribution. Instead she watched as a sickening grin spread across his face.
"You're most resistant, not at all what I expected from someone of such a primitive planet." Kalix said. "But it doesn't matter. I will find out what I want to know one way or another."
With that he turned and stalked out of the room. Seconds later two dedians walked in and unlatched her. Tori struck out at one, but the armored foot soldier had quick reflexes and easily caught her wrist in a vice-like grip. Neither dedian said anything as they dragged her out of the room and back to the holding cell where they tossed her in carelessly. Amias caught her and laid her down on the ground as her knees buckled.
"Well, it's either a good thing or a bad thing that she's still conscious." Amias said, glancing over his shoulder at Harper.
"If it has to do with Kalix it's probably bad." Harper replied.
"I didn't tell him anything. He couldn't get anything out of me." Tori said, her voice soft yet proud.
"Then you're twice the person I was." Harper said. "I led him right to what he wanted to know. I didn't know about his psychic powers when he captured me."
"It's not your fault Harper." Sizvu spoke up. "It could have happened to any of us."
"Oh don't give me that. Everyone was more experienced than me, I shouldn't have even been a ranger yet. Craggan hardly trusted me and then I went and got myself captured." Harper ranted. "It's my fault he learned where our main base was. It's my fault he learned about all our secret defenses. It's my fault they're all dead."
Sizvu gave him an even look. "I don't know what you expect me to say lad. I know that Craggan didn't take good care of you as a partner. He never should have let you get captured in the first place. I know that Baja got too complacent after Kalix seemed to disappear for almost a month. The only thing I can tell you is that neither Kardan or I blame you. That'll have to be enough for ya."
ZzZzZ
Yellow groaned at the deep rooted pain throbbing through his whole body as consciousness came back to him. He rolled onto his back and flopped an arm over his forehead as he tried to understand what was going on and why he hurt so bad. Then it all came rushing back to him. From the moment he picked up that necklace for the first time until the very moment he destroyed it. All the memories of what a monster he had become flooded his mind and overloaded his thoughts as he struggled to make sense of it all. It took him several long minutes to process it all and then even longer to accept what he had done, for the moment, and focus on what needed to be done.
With another groan he got to his feet and shook his head to clear it. He was relieved to find that he was still morphed as he wasn't sure he would have had the strength to do it. As it was he hoped he didn't get caught before he could get it all done. He wasn't sure he could act like the Psycho Yellow that everyone knew. Much of that attitude had been the necklace's fault. He took a moment to get his head together before he left his room on his final mission on Kalix's ship.
The tech room he needed was just down the hall and once inside he stood still with indecision. He knew of the rangers imprisoned in the holding cell. He desperately wanted to free them all, but he knew realistically they would have no place to go. Not only that he would have less of a chance of success if he freed more than one ranger. Making up his mind Yellow found the morphers he was looking for thanks to some helpful labeling and stored them in the small compartment on the side of his armor. He then grabbed a personal transporter, a flash bomb, an electro-disk, and two weapons that he sent to the same subspace storage as his scythe.
With that task done he left the tech room and headed down to the Droig Cryo-Storage and wasn't in the least bit surprised to see the master control room empty. He wasn't a computer whiz and he didn't know a lot about the cryo process, but he did know that the gas that kept the droigs asleep was a delicate balance and that if the proportions were tipped in one direction the gas would become poisonous. As he typed he had a brief flash of regret, thinking about what kind of monster he had really become if he was willing to take so many defenseless lives, but he shoved the feelings away. They were too much of a threat to let live. When the alteration was done he quickly locked the system with a password only he would know, and zipped out of the area. He knew alarms would begin going off, but by the time they would get his password overridden it would be too late for the six hundred droigs.
The dedians guarding the holding cell showed no reaction to his arrival, but acknowledged him enough to keep him out. In a movement too quick for the dedians to follow Yellow attacked them, knocking them out before sending out an electrical wave to fry the cameras.
Username: YellowRush
Password: xxxxxx
The shield serving as a door faded away. "C'mon Tori, there's no time to talk now."
"Huh?" Four confused voices echoed in unison.
"Let's just say I've come to my senses." Yellow replied. "There's no time to explain, but I can only take Tori with me. However, I'm not going to turn the shield back on, so if you manage to escape..."
"Go." Amias urged, giving Tori a gentle push toward the Yellow Psycho Ranger.
"I can't leave you." Tori argued.
"There's no time for ranger cliches right now." Harper said. "Go, we'll follow if we can."
However, before anyone could make another move Red and Crimson appeared in the doorway. Yellow reacted on pure instinct. He adjusted his visor and then threw the flash bomb in front of his two ex-teammates. Then he snatched Tori's arm, punched in the coordinates, and transported them both to Earth. Almost immediately Red and Crimson followed and attacked Yellow as he tried to protect Tori. Yellow blocked a high kick from Crimson only to receive a more powerful one to his ribs from Red. As he stumbled Red followed it with a kick to his knee and then a punch to the temple as Yellow collapsed. Yellow rolled away from Crimson's shield aimed for his face and right into Red's sword. Tori swore she could hear the flesh slicing open as the sword was shoved straight through Yellow's shoulder and into the ground. Yellow was pinned helplessly, pain lancing through his shoulder and body with each breath. Crimson straddled him and began pounding him mercilessly while Red advanced on Tori.
"I don't think so!"
Red groaned as the rest of the ranger team streaked in to place themselves between him and the Blue Ranger. At the same time Kale and Navy both forced Crimson to back off of Yellow. Red and Crimson moved to stand back to back as they were surrounded by their enemies. For the first time they were at a true disadvantage.
"You traitors will pay." Crimson snarled, his voice dripping with hate. He made sure Navy knew that he was talking directly to him. "I'll strangle you myself."
"I still don't fear you Terik." Navy replied firmly.
"I will change that."
With that Red and Crimson transported away. At once the rangers surrounded Tori, asking her questions about her health and wellbeing. She answered them quickly, but broke out of the group to go to Psycho Yellow's side. She still didn't understand what kind of change of heart he'd had, but she knew she deeply appreciated it. It hurt her to see anyone in pain and even more so because it was her fault.
"Will he be okay?" Tori asked.
Kale looked up, helmet hiding his reassuring smile. "Yeah, nothing a day in the healing chamber won't fix."
"Actually, four hours." Navy corrected.
"That's good." Tori murmured, the recent events beginning to weigh down on her.
Navy gently picked up his injured friend and followed Kale back to the ship. With them gone Tori allowed her own teammates to take her back to Ninja Ops. She knew she had some recovering to do. She would have nightmares about some of the things Kalix had shown her, but she knew she wasn't alone. Her friends would be there to support her and she knew with them she could overcome anything.