Power Rangers: The First and Last Hope
Chapter 5: Shades of Black, Part 2
Author's Notes: Just a quick note on feedback. While I do appreciate the small amount of feedback I've gotten thus far (nice to know a few of you are reading between the places I'm posting this, heh), it would be nice to hear some more specific feedback other than "great!' and "keep writing!". i.e. Who are your favorite characters so far, and your least favorite characters, and why? That kind of thing. Anyway, thanks to whoever can provide feedback of any kind. Now on with chapter 5!
Tristan and Ada each looked at each other, having no idea what to do or say in this situation. Jerrelle silently raged in front of them, his fists clenched and a single tear falling down his cheek.
"Why couldn't you just leave us alone!" Jerrelle finally said, almost sobbing. "We were fine, we were happy, we were..."
"Were you really happy working for the Zarset Empire?" Tristan asked softly.
"It wasn't exactly a barrel of laughs, but at least we were safe!" Jerrelle shouted back at her. "We were safe until you two decided to poke your noses in our business!"
"We didn't choose for this to happen!" Ada shouted back. "Do you think we're the ones who chose you for this? We didn't even choose ourselves for this!"
"There's something greater at work here than any of us." Tristan said, still talking quietly. "We can't understand it, and neither can you."
"Don't give me that crap!" Jerrelle yelled as he turned back towards the two siblings, gun pointed at them. "It's your fault they have my mother! It's all your fault!"
Before Jerrelle could fire the gun, however, Tristan and Ada were suddenly teleported out in flashes of red and pink. Jerrelle became confused and further enraged as he shot the pistol at where they had just been standing, making burn marks in the wall, and then slammed his fist onto it.
"This isn't fair! Come back here and pay for what you've done!" he screamed.
Meanwhile, Araken and Neresa stood on top of an elevated platform in the factory outside of Chicago Jerrelle was supervising. Behind them were Minions, and tied up to the wall was Jerrelle's mother, a gag in her mouth as she struggled to be let free.
"You did a splendid job, as always, Neresa." Araken grinned as he watched her squirm. "Those Rangers were so busy with me, they didn't even notice you sneak in and then sneak back out with the poor Black Ranger's widower of a mother!"
"It was a piece of cake." Neresa said as she returned Araken's grin.
"Now all we have to do is get the Black Ranger here and have his mother convince him to join us." Araken said, looking towards the elderly woman.
"And she'll do just that if she wants to live." Neresa said with an evil grin as she ran her hand down the frightened woman's cheek.
"I'll have the message sent out immediately." said Araken. "You just make sure she's ready."
"Oh, she'll be ready, don't worry about that." Neresa replied as she smiled a sly smile towards Jerrelle's mother.
In the shadows of the building, watching without either one of them knowing, was the Scarlet Ranger. She chuckled to herself watching their plot unfold.
Pathetic wastes of energy. the Scarlet Ranger thought to herself watching. Watching them fail will be almost as amusing as teasing Araken about it later.
With a grin to herself beneath her helmet, the Scarlet Ranger disappeared in a flash of energy.
Back in the Command Center, Tristan and Ada were teleported onto the floor in a heap. The two Rangers stood up to face Zordon, Ada clearly unhappy with the unplanned teleportation.
"What the hell was that about!" Ada shouted up at him.
"Rangers, Jerrelle had a gun out and he was going to use it on you." Zordon replied. "I had to remove you for your own safety."
"Jerrelle wasn't going to shoot us." Tristan said a bit more quietly than Ada. "I saw what kind of person he was back there. There's no way he'd shoot us."
"He was not in a proper emotional state, you can't say for certain what Jerrelle was going to do and what he was not going to do." Zordon replied, staying firm.
"He just lost his mother to the Zarset Empire, you emotionless little freak!" Ada screamed up at him. "And now we probably lost him, too, thanks to you taking us out of there!"
"I did what I had to do!" Zordon yelled back in his own defense. "It's better we have two Rangers than none!"
"What does it matter when we don't have a chance against them without all five of us anyway?" Ada questioned him. "If we don't get Jerrelle to join us, we mine as well have been shot by him back there anyway!"
"Ai yi yi yi, stop this arguing for a second!" Alpha-5 butted in. "Look at the viewing globe!"
Tristan and Ada both turned away from the viewing globe to see the face of Araken, broadcasting from the factory outside of Chicago.
"Jerrelle Taylor!" Araken began. "I know you can hear me. If you ever want to see your mother again, come to the factory. You know where it is. She's here, and she's alive, I promise you that."
The camera panned away from Araken to show Jerrelle's mother, tied up to the wall of the factory.
"But if you don't come soon, Jerrelle, well, I can't guarantee her safety for very long." Araken said with an evil grin appearing on his face.
And with that, the transmission ended. Tristan and Ada turned back to Zordon again, both clearly worked up.
"We have to go there and help him." Tristan said.
"Yeah, it has to be a trap." Ada added. "He doesn't have his powers yet, we do, we can at least do SOMETHING!"
"I won't stop you from going, Rangers, but my fears are their intentions are not to kill Jerrelle, but to make him join them once and for all." Zordon said sadly. "Remember that, and whatever you do, do not allow yourselves to be captured or killed there. The Earth needs you."
Tristan and Ada merely nodded. Ada turned to look at Tristan, who nodded at her, and then she yelled out that familiar phrase- "IT'S MORPHIN' TIME!"
"Pterodactyl!"
"Tyrannosaurus!"
Jerrelle walked slowly into the factory he had walked into so many times, the Zarset laser pistol clutched to his right side and an intense, almost deadly look on his face. Araken smiled evilly when he saw Jerrelle enter the factory from his platform, and turned to Neresa.
"Make sure she's ready." he instructed her. "It's almost showtime."
Neresa nodded and turned to Jerrelle's mother, whispering something in her ear. Araken turned his head back towards Jerrelle, who approached the platform and raised the pistol in the air.
"Oh please, Jerrelle, who are you really kidding with that thing?" Araken asked him with a laugh. "Look around you. You're surrounded by Minions on all sides. It'll take a lot more than a few shots of that stupid pistol to put me down, and a few shots is all you'll get before YOU'RE put down!"
Jerrelle didn't reply, but the fear in his eyes was evident. He was sweating nervously, knowing he was cornered.
"Besides, Jerrelle, I didn't call you here for a fight. I brought you here so you could join us."
"I'm already a part of the Empire." Jerrelle huffed.
"Not a very loyal one then." Araken replied back. "Or was the shot in my back just your way of showing your support?"
"I'm not going to help those two again." Jerrelle shot back quickly. "If you'll free my mother, I'll stay loyal."
"Hahaha, that's what I like to hear!" said Araken. "But how am I supposed to believe you? You've pledged your loyalty to us before and already betrayed us. Perhaps we'll just have to keep your mother as a bargaining chip..."
"No, I'll be loyal, I swear!" Jerrelle screamed, throwing the laser pistol to the ground and kicking it away. "Just let my mother go!"
Before Araken could say anything in reply, however, they were interrupted by the sound of gunfire, as several Minions guarding the entrance to the factory were blasted backwards, courtesy of the Red and Pink Rangers' Blade Blasters. Araken didn't even seem surprised, but Jerrelle certainly was as he turned to watch the Rangers run forward.
"No, Jerrelle, stop!" Tristan yelled. "You can't do this!"
"You can't join up with them, you're one of us!" Ada yelled. "You're a Power Ranger!"
I recognize those voices...it's those two kids from the apartment! Jerrelle thought. It's all starting to make sense now...
"Don't listen to them, Jerrelle!" Araken shot back. "Who would you rather listen to...two kids you just met, or your own mother!"
Araken looked towards Neresa, who nodded, and after giving one final threatening glare towards Jerrelle's mother, released the gag from her mouth. His mother looked down at Jerrelle below the platform, then back at Neresa, before beginning to speak.
"Jerrelle...you need to stay loyal to the Zar...to the Zar..."
But as she looked down at her son, looking up at her desperately for an answer, looking so similar to the husband she had once known, then back at the two Power Rangers hoping against hope that they could save the planet, she realized what she had to do.
"Spit it out already, you old hag, or I'll rip your throat out!" Neresa said to her in an angry whisper.
Jerrelle's mother looked at Neresa and nodded, then turned back towards her son.
"Jerrelle...those two are right! You're a Power Ranger, just like your father!"
Jerrelle's mouth was wide open in shock as he listened to his mother's words. His father...was a Power Ranger!
"For the longest time I blamed your dad when he went off so many years ago, just after you were born, to help other Rangers from across the universe battle against this very group. I wished he had stayed closer to home, and been here to help raise you. So I let you do this, I let you join the group that Zachery hated with every fiber of his being, and for that I deserve whatever this pathetic Empire wants to do to me! Jerrelle, you're a Power Ranger...and just like your dad, you're going to save the world!"
"ENOUGH!" Araken screamed. "Jerrelle, don't listen to her, it's a trick!"
"It's too late, Araken!" Ada yelled just after she punched down another Minion. "Look!"
Araken watched as Jerrelle had begun to glow with black energy, his fists clenched as he looked up at Araken. Finally, he morphed into the Black Ranger, and tears streamed down his mothers' eyes.
"The only one trying to trick me is YOU, Araken!" Jerrelle yelled as he pointed up at him. "I'm not a member of the Zarset Empire anymore, I'm the Black Ranger, and I'm going to personally put an end to you and all of your kind...for my father!"
Tristan and Ada ran up to Jerrelle's side as he struck his father's old fighting pose. Araken began chuckling in disbelief atop the platform.
"That's quite nice and all." Araken chuckled. "It's just a shame you're going to have to die here then. I kind of liked you. Oh well. It's time you all meet a friend of mine, Power Rangers."
The same small white man who had threatened Jerrelle into joining the Zarset Empire walked up onto the platform, standing beside Araken.
"You!" Jerrelle screamed.
The man smiled at Jerrelle, before his body began filling with what looked to be electricity, and he reverted to his true form. He was made of metal and he was huge, with two drills instead of hands. His eyes glowed blue as he laughed evilly.
"May I introduce you, Power Rangers, to the first of the Command Beasts!" Araken said proudly. "This...is Drilliago, the Command Beast of electricity!"
"Pleasure to meet you!" Drilliago said in a mechanical voice. "Unfortunately, this will be both our first and last meeting!"
Drilliago leaped down from the platform and onto the ground, and his drills began to turn, rotating at an incredible speed. The three Rangers looked at each other and knew they had to fight, and they all rushed forward at once. However, they proved to be no match for Drilliago hand-to-hand, as he used his overpowering size and his frightening drills to man-handle them easily, sending all three Rangers to the ground in smoking heaps.
"That isn't going to work..." Ada muttered.
"What about these Blade Blaster things?" Jerrelle asked them. "Maybe we can blast our way past him!"
"It's worth a shot." Tristan agreed. "Blade Blasters!"
The three Rangers stood back up, Blade Blasters pointed at Drilliago in blaster mode.
"Fire!" Tristan shouted.
The three Rangers fired their blasters at the same time, but if the red energy shots had any effect on Drilliago, he didn't show it. He then fired back with more blue electricity coming out of the rotating drills, which zapped the three Rangers and sent them back to the ground in a heap again.
"You see that you're no match for the power of this Command Beast!" Araken grinned. "It's very amusing, seeing you die by your own planet's power! Hahahaha! Finish them off now Drilliago!"
The three Rangers all grimaced as they laid on the ground and Drilliago began moving towards them. However, just as all seemed lost...suddenly, a flash of scarlet-colored energy came flying across in front of Drilliago, and when it was gone, smoke poured from his center, as if he had been slashed. He fell to the ground glowing blue, clearly having been hit hard by something, before disappearing.
"What was that!" Neresa yelled, unable to believe her eyes. "What just happened!"
"I think I have a few ideas..." Araken said through clenched teeth.
"Either way, think you can take THREE Rangers on, Araken!" Ada shouted as the three of them stood up.
"Especially after I wounded your punk ass earlier!" Jerrelle added.
Araken's rage was clearly evident as he knew the answer. He turned to Neresa and spoke.
"Let's get out of here." he said angrily, then turned back towards the Rangers. "There will be another day!"
He moved his cloak over his body and disappeared in a flash of black energy. The three Rangers then looked up at Neresa, who only grinned in response.
"Oh, I'm going too, but there's something I have to do first." she said.
She turned towards Jerrelle's mother, still taped to the wall, the grin still on her face. A ball of black energy appeared in her right hand, and she bounced it up and down as she continued grinning at her, amused at the fear that appeared in her eyes.
"NO! STOP!" Jerrelle yelled as he began to run for the platform.
"This is for messing up Araken's plan, you bitch." Neresa said. Jerrelle's mother only closed her eyes as Neresa threw the ball of black energy, striking the elderly woman and sending her to the ground, breaking the restraints. Neresa turned and saw Jerrelle rushing towards them, having just leaped up on the platform, and only grinned at him before disappearing in a similar flash of black.
"NO! MOM!" Jerrelle yelled as he rushed towards her, leaning over and taking her head in his arms.
He powered down back to his normal state as Tristan and Ada, still morphed, leaped onto the platform and pointed their blasters around the room, threatening any human or Minion. They knew Jerrelle needed time to say goodbye.
"Mom...don't go." Jerrelle said between sobs. "I need you. I need you now more than ever. I can't do this without you."
"Yes...you can." his mom managed to get out. "I believe...in you. I'm sure...your dad...would too. You have...to promise me...you'll do it. For me...for your dad...for everyone on Earth..."
"I promise, mom." Jerrelle sobbed. "I promise I'll save this planet, for you and for dad."
"That's good." his mother smiled. "You're not...ready yet...but I believe...you can do it."
And with that, his mother drew her last breath, dying in her son's arms. Jerrelle leaned over and cried in her hair, sobbing uncontrollably. Meanwhile, Tristan and Ada noticed more Minions were showing up, more than they could handle, and moved to Jerrelle, gently placing hands on each shoulder.
"We need to go, Jerrelle." Tristan said softly. "We have to get out of here."
Jerrelle silently nodded as he sat up, kissing his mother's forehead one more time, then standing up and teleporting out with his new comrades. He left his mother there, and on her face...was a smile.
Both the Scarlet Ranger and Araken had returned to the Command Room once more, and again the dark room was bathed in blue light as the screen came to life.
"Araken, we can't believe you dare show your face here in front of us after failing for a second time." it said.
"I can't believe it either." the Scarlet Ranger helpfully added.
"I'm here because I was sabotaged!" Araken screamed. "Things were going fine, Drilliago was going to destroy all three Rangers, and then conveniently a flash of scarlet-colored energy hits and he's down on the ground! Who do we know who loves the color scarlet so much, and has the ability to move around so fast she appears as nothing more than flash of it!"
"You can't prove that I ruined your stupid plan!" the Scarlet Ranger shot back. "Maybe one of the other two Rangers awakened and we don't know about it, or maybe they don't have an ally we don't know about!"
"She's right, you know." Command said. "You can't prove it."
"Besides..." the Scarlet Ranger added. "From what I understand, you already failed in your plan to bring the Black Ranger over. The fact that you had to waste the power of a Command Beast so early, before they're even a complete team, is a failure in and of itself!"
Araken had no response to this, as he knew she was right on both accounts, so remained silent.
"There's nothing you could say to us that will convince us you haven't failed." Command said, breaking the silence. "As we said before this mission started, because you failed, the next mission goes to the Scarlet Ranger. As soon as the next Ranger about to awaken is located, you may go, Scarlet Ranger."
"Thank you, Command." the Scarlet Ranger replied, bowing.
"Do not fail us like Araken did." Command said sternly. "Or you will find yourself in much of the same situation as your beloved friend Araken."
"Understood." the Scarlet Ranger said, and turned and left the room. Araken, meanwhile, had yet to move from it, even when the blue screen of Command went blank, leaving the room in complete darkness again.
I did fail. Araken thought. I can't blame the Scarlet Ranger for this. I failed...
Araken looked at the now-blank screen that Command takes up, and sighed.
I'll be back. Araken decided. When the Scarlet Ranger fails too, I'll return to this room and prove to Command that I'm worthy of fighting the Power Rangers.
Araken turned and left the room, not noticing that the Scarlet Ranger had been watching him from the other doorway the entire time.
Poor little Araken. the Scarlet Ranger thought. You have no idea what you're up against. And neither...do the Power Rangers. Because I can't be stopped. Not until I get what I want...
With a sly smile beneath her helmet, the Scarlet Ranger turned and walked out of the doorway, preparing herself mentally for battle. Preparing herself mentally...to do what must be done.