Chapter Three

"Peter? Peter, sweety, wake up."

The haze of sleep dissipated like fog, and I slowly opened my eyes, raising my hand against the sudden glare of light and making a sound not unlike that of a dying camel. Everything began to come into focus, and I saw my mother standing over me with an amused grin.

"Morning," I grunted.

My mother smiled. "Sorry about that," she began, "I know you like to sleep, it's just your alarm has been going for the last twenty minutes and it's driving your father and I crazy."

Alarm? My thoughts were barely making sense as it was, never mind the fact that I didn't actually own an alarm clock. Suddenly aware of a six-note chime filling the air, I glanced over to my bedside table - and saw my communicator chiming urgently.

Oh damn.

I immediately launched myself out of bed, grabbing the silver bracelet and spinning back to my mother.

"I'm awake," I said quickly, over the noise of the communicator. "I'll be right, thanks for waking me up."

Mum shook her head and smiled, before turning and leaving. "Quickest I've seen you move in a long time. Come out and have some breakfast when you're ready."

When I was sure I was alone, I fastened the thin metal band around my wrist, and raised it to my mouth.

"Jason?" I said quickly, "I'm here. I'm sorry. What's the emergency?"

There was a pause, and I could almost hear Jason's smile down the line. "Nothing major, the Universe just collapsed fifteen minutes ago," he replied. "I take it you haven't seen this morning's edition of the Suncoast Daily."

"No, not yet," I replied.

"Then have a look at the front page, and come to the Youth Centre as soon as you can."

"Be right there," I said, and the communicator fell silent. Leaving my room, I wandered into the living room where the paper usually rested first thing in the morning. Picking up the newspaper, shaking it open and looking at the front page story, I caught sight of the headline in big black threatening letters, and knew why the team needed me.

The headline for today's edition of the Suncoast Daily was Killer Strikes Again - Three More Victims Burned Alive.

Figuring I needed to make up for lost time, I left home and teleported into the Youth Centre as soon as I could. Leaving the empty locker-room, I glanced around the interior of the building for the others. The Youth Centre was busy despite the early hour, even for the school holidays. The exercise equipment at the side of the room was all being used, and several couples were sparring on the centre mats. The television behind the Juice Bar was still playing news footage from Taloqan, with a large audience of kids watching. I saw the other Rangers soon enough - they'd pushed together several tables in the furthest corner of the room, a fair distance away from all the other Juice Bar patrons.

"Hey Ernie," I called, passing the Juice Bar.

"Oh hi Pete," smiled Ernie. "You're running late today, everyone's already waiting for you."

"Thanks," I nodded, and quickly jogged over to where the group was sitting, grabbing a chair and squeezing in between Jason and Sarah. I couldn't help but notice that everybody still looked totally exhausted, as if we'd all run a marathon before arriving. Even the five of us who'd met here yesterday - Taloqan seemed to have taken something out of us all that couldn't be put back any time soon.

"Sorry, I'm late," I said quickly, "there were, uh, sleep issues involved."

Kim smiled. "Don't worry, we'll throw something at you if you start to drift off."

I nodded. "Thanks."

Jason laughed. "Now that everybody's here," he began, his expression changing, "we can get started. I take it by now everyone's heard about the murders the last couple of nights. Three last night, and four the night we all got back from Taloqan. I know that we're all still burnt out, but I think the Power Rangers need to get involved."

Sarah raised her hand. "Wouldn't we be overstepping our duties? Isn't this more of a police matter?"

Jason nodded. "Ordinarily, I'd agree with you. But the thing is," and he paused for effect, gazing around the table, "this serial killer might just have some home-made superpowers."

Everybody who hadn't been here yesterday turned to each other in surprise. "But how do you know?" asked Scott in a hushed voice.

Ian spoke up. "My dad is the police officer investigating," he explained. "I managed to read a report he brought home. As it turns out, one of the victims wasn't fully burnt, so the forensic scientists could work back from the chemical evidence of the fires. They couldn't find any evidence of fuel for the flames, but according to the report, the other three victims burnt as if they'd been coated in twenty gallons of petrol beforehand."

Billy adjusted his glasses thoughtfully. "That is peculiar," he said, and looked back to Jason. "You believe this indicates an element of the supernatural in these crimes?"

"Given everything that happens in this town, it's enough to make me wonder," nodded Jason, and he reached over to a manila folder lying on the table. "We've already ruled out Rita and Goldar, as well, so we're starting from scratch. These are the profiles of the first four victims Ian was able to copy last night. The official report is stapled behind." He pulled out a sheet and passed the folder to me. "Take a look at the victims and see if you recognise any of them."

The folder was quickly passed around the group, everybody quickly skimming through the profiles. The first victim caught my attention, the name sounding oddly familiar.

"Oh I know," I said aloud. "Luke Fitzgerald, he was in the news a few weeks back."

"Yeah," nodded Kim. "That's right, he was fired so he went after his boss and killed him."

I turned to Jason. "Do you think that would've been the motive for whoever murdered him? Like a revenge killing or something? "

Jason nodded. "Just take a look at the next three."

"The next guy's Troy Simmons," said Trini. "I remember him too. He shot and killed a bank teller during a robbery earlier this year, but one of the witnesses refused to testify so they couldn't prove it in court."

"The third victim keeps up the trend," added Tommy, reading the third profile. "Barbara Lee, an arsonist. She set fire to a hotel last year, and three people died in the blaze."

"There's poetic justice," I murmured.

"Guys," began Kimberly, "check out the fourth victim. Anthony Harris."

Tommy quickly turned to the final profile. "The Anthony Harris?"

"One and the same," the Pink Ranger replied grimly.

Teresa turned to her. "You knew him?"

Kimberly nodded. "Everybody knew Anthony Harris. 22-year-old drug pusher, who robbed his first petrol station when he was fourteen, and who's been in and out of trouble ever since. He was always hanging around the high school hassling people, mostly young kids. A real sleaze too, by all accounts."

Tommy nodded. "That's what I heard, too," he said. "I remember somebody once said that Anthony was one of those people born rotten."

"Well exactly," said Zac, dropping the profiles onto the table. "If somebody is picking these people off, why on Earth should we try and protect them? Is there a good reason why we're about to possibly risk our lives to avenge a bunch of psychopaths?"

Everybody immediately turned to him. That was the longest word we'd ever heard Zac use.

"A bit of an overstatement Zac," said Tommy.

Sitting opposite the Black Ranger, Teresa nodded. "Yeah Zac, how can you not care?"

Zac tapped the profiles on the table before him. "Taking the things these people did into account," he replied, "pretty easily."

Teresa shook her head. "Okay, so they weren't particularly nice people, but it's our responsibility to get involved. People are dying, isn't that enough to...?"

"No way girl. We're supposed to protect the innocent, not..." At that precise second, Ernie rounded the corner and approached the table with a tray of drinks, and without skipping a beat, Zac continued talking. "...which is why the Broncos are going to lose the match tonight."

"You're wrong," replied Teresa, leaning forward, as Ernie began placing the drinks on the table. "The Broncos have never backed away from a tough game before. There's absolutely nothing different about tonight's match."

"Thanks Ernie," said Kim, as Ernie turned to leave.

Ernie smiled. "No problem Kimberly. You guys want anything else, gimme a yell."

"Teresa's right," said Ian. "All things being equal, this is the kind of match the Broncos will do best at..." Ernie disappeared around the corner, and the conversation swung smoothly back. "Look, if the killer does have superpowers, what can the police do? I don't want my dad facing the kinds of things we have to."

Zac opened his mouth to argue, but Jason stood up, leaned forward and planted his fists against the table with an audible 'thud'. "Guys," he said, in the tone of voice he always used to silence a room full of people. It worked. "There's no vote on this one, Teresa and Ian are right - if the murderer has any kind of supernatural force at his call, we're the only people capable of dealing with him." He paused, and looked to Zac. "Don't make me pull rank on you, man."

Realising he was beaten, Zac nodded unhappily and sat back in his chair.

"Thank you," said Jason quietly, before addressing the group again. "The vigilante, for want of a better word, responsible for these deaths might be targeting these kinds of people, but they're still people. Ian suspects - and I agree - that two attacks in two nights means the killer will strike again tonight, which gives us twelve hours. And all we've got so far is the first four victims and the connection between them."

"But it's not the only connection," said Sarah, looking up from the profile she'd been reading. "Troy Simmons couldn't be convicted because a witness refused to testify, right?" Trini nodded, and Sarah continued. "Now remember, Fitzgerald's case was dismissed on a legal technicality, I remember everybody in the media was really angry about it, and it says here that Lee was deemed mentally unfit to be held accountable for the fire - she was sent to a psychiatric hospital and not prison. And of course, Anthony Harris would never have really been punished because of his age."

"Bingo," said Brendan softly.

Billy nodded. "Excellent deduction Sarah," he said. "All four victims were never brought to justice for their own crimes. The killer, we can deduce, has taken this duty upon themselves. A citizen fulfilling their civic duty, so to speak."

"Caloundra's a big city, though," said Teresa. "And people have gotten away with a lot worse. There has to be some other reason why the vigilante chose these four people, something they have in common. If we can figure that out, it'll probably point us back to the killer."

"Enter the detectives, stage left," I nodded.

Scott groaned. "I hate playing detective," he said. "I can't even play Cluedo."

Teresa turned to her brother. "It'd help if you didn't always pick Colonel Mustard."

"But it always is him!"

Jason smiled. "All right, here's the plan. We split up. Ian, you're our man on the inside, see if the police know anything more about the killer or last night's victims. Take Peter with you." Ian and I nodded, and Jason continued. "Everybody else, we'll be investigating the first four victims, trying to figure out the link that Teresa mentioned - why the killer chose them. Kimberly, take Zac and investigate Harris. Talk to people, see if he had any...new...enemies. Teresa, you and Brendan find out about Fitzgerald, and Sarah and Scott, I want you two to find out whatever you can about Barbara Lee. See if anybody was specifically asking about them, or if their original victims are back for revenge, I don't know, think creatively. Billy, you and Trini can investigate Troy Simmons."

"What about you and me?" asked Tommy.

"We'll be heading into town and checking out the crime scenes," replied Jason. "That's what the cops on TV always do."

"Should we contact Zordon?" asked Trini. "Let him know what's going on?"

Jason shook his head. "Not until we know more," he replied. "For all this, it could just be a normal human killer, and the police could have arrested him by lunch. Billy, your father is still in Brisbane, right?"

"Affirmative," the Blue Ranger replied.

"Your place is pretty close to the centre of town. Would you mind if we regrouped there tonight?"

Billy shook his head. "That should pose no significant problem."

"Cool. Thanks," said Jason. "Aim to meet back at Billy's place at five o'clock tonight. Okay team, time to go to work."

"We'll head over to the basketball courts near the high school," said Kim as she left the Youth Centre, Zac following dejectedly a few steps behind. "That's where Anthony always used to hang out. We can talk to his friends and see if they might know if anybody wanted Anthony dead, I guess. I'll be the cute cheerleader, you be the muscle."

"What fun," muttered Zac, rolling his eyes.

Kimberly stopped and turned to the Black Ranger. "C'mon Zac, don't try the 'tude with me, you know it won't work," she said. "What's bugging you?"

Zac shrugged. "I don't know. It's just, we're the good guys, right?" he asked. "We're supposed to be wasting the bad guys, not protecting them."

Kimberly shook her head. "You know Jason's right on this one, Zac."

The Black Ranger nodded slowly. "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry."

"I don't really think you owe me the apology," Kim replied gently, then grabbed his hand and kept walking. "Now c'mon, I need you for this. I can't be cute if you're not hip."

And even in spite of himself, Zac had to smile.

The alleyway behind the hotel had been fenced off with bright yellow police tape. A small crowd of pedestrians stood at either end of the street watching the police scientists work, and Jason and Tommy were able to slip into the crowd unnoticed. The stakes had since been removed from the alley, but pieces of ash still littered the lane.

"We know the victims from the first night were beaten to death before they were burnt," said Tommy, turning from the alley to Jason. "But were the victims from last night killed before the murderer set fire to them? Can you imagine what that would be like, to burn alive?"

"Trying not to," replied Jason.

Tommy looked back to the four mounds of dirt where the stakes had stood. "What kind of person could do something like this anyway, superpowers or not?"

Jason shrugged. "I don't know," he said softly. "It's not like the victims were particularly nice people, but still..." Glancing around the crowd, Jason's eyes narrowed. "Tommy, anything strike you as strange about using this alley to set fire to four people?"

Tommy paused, looking around and nodding. "Yeah, it's too open," he said. "The vigilante wanted the bodies to be found."

"That's what I was thinking," said Jason. "I don't think we're gonna find anything more here. Do you want to head over to Golden Beach and see if we can take a look at the second crime scene?"

The Green Ranger nodded, and the two friends turned and left the alley, walking back towards the main street of the city.

Tommy smiled. "So much for being high-profile detectives," he said. "I bet Sherlock Holmes never had to wait for the bus."

Jason turned to him with a grin. "Shut up Watson."

From there, the day went pretty fast. Ian and I spent the morning at the police station talking to Ian's father and trying to learn how much the police had uncovered. Jason and Tommy had a look at the second crime scene, a narrow lane behind an empty house in Golden Beach, before asking the people living nearby if they'd seen or heard anything strange the night before. Sarah and Scott visited the hotel that Barbara Lee had tried to burn down, while Trini and Billy chatted to a friend of Trini's father who'd worked at the bank Troy Simmons had robbed. Kimberly and Zac spoke to various teenagers across the city, while Teresa and Brendan spoke to Kitty, who Teresa had remembered chatting with Mrs Fortescue about the Fitzgerald family.

I think everybody was getting into our roles as detectives, and at any rate, five o'clock was with us before we knew it.

The Cranston's house lay only a few blocks away from Sunland Shopping Centre, in one of the suburbs between the high school and the centre of town. On our way to meet up with the other Rangers, Ian and I turned a corner and saw Zac and Kimberly a short distance ahead.

"Hey guys!" Ian called, and we jogged towards them.

"On your way to Billy's?" asked Kim, as Ian and I drew level.

I nodded. "How'd you guys go for the day?"

"Not too bad, although we didn't really get much," replied Kim. "We spent the day talking to people who knew Harris, things like that. How about you?"

"From what we saw, the police don't have much in the way of leads," Ian said. "Although I did learn a bit about last night's victims."

"That's better than nothing," said Zac, as we crossed the street towards the Cranston home. It was a large, two-storey house, with tall leafy trees framing the building, a waist-high white picket fence and a picturesque garden tended to by a professional gardener twice a week. The garage door at the side of the house was open, and countless gadgets, pieces of circuitry and half-finished inventions were visible lining the walls. All of it belonged to Billy, and I learnt later that some of it wasn't even from Earth.

"Where's Billy's dad, out of curiosity?" I asked.

"I think he's on jury duty down in Brisbane," replied Kimberly.

Billy met us at the door, and telling us we were the last Rangers to arrive, he ushered the four of us into the spacious lounge room where everybody was waiting. Most of the seats were already taken, and Ian and I dropped down on the floor beside Teresa and Brendan, while Kim joined Trini on a worn sofa and Zac quietly rested against the wall in the corner. As we sat down, Jason looked to me with a grin.

"Why is it you're always the last one to these things?" he asked.

I smiled. "At least I wasn't asleep this time."

"That's true," he replied, then glanced to Ian. "First things first - how close are the police to solving this one?"

Ian shook his head. "From what I could see, they're no closer than us," he replied. "I think my dad is following the 'urban vigilante' theory as well, but the fire's stumped everybody."

"We did find out a bit about last night's victims, though," I added.

"Yeah," said Ian. "Our killer stuck to his MO - one of the victims last night had recently been charged with beating her stepson."

Jason nodded. "That's something, at least. How did everybody else go? Kim? Zac?"

"We didn't find much," replied Kimberly. "With Anthony Harris, it'd be faster eliminating a list of people who actually did like the guy." Kim turned to Trini, sitting beside her. "How about you and Billy?"

Trini shook her head. "We didn't discover anything you couldn't have read in the newspapers. There's always tomorrow."

"No, that's okay," replied Jason. "This is new territory for us, we're not doing too bad. Teresa and Brendan, you didn't find anything new about Fitzgerald?" The two Rangers shook their heads, and he turned to Sarah and Scott, seated together on a chair. "Nothing on Lee either?"

"We spoke to the hotel manager," said Sarah, "and he gave us the name of the family who died in Lee's fire. I'm going to try and find them tomorrow."

"What about Tommy and yourself?" asked Billy. "Did your pursuit provide us with any tangible evidence?"

Jason nodded. "The places where the vigilante left the bodies, behind the hotel and in the lane in Golden Beach - they were too open, plainly visible from the roads going past. I would've assumed most murderers wouldn't actually want their victims to be so easily found."

"But it makes sense though," said Teresa. "I mean, think about it. The people he targets have all escaped from proper justice. Putting them on display so publicly, it's like he's saying 'This is what happens if you don't obey the law'." She broke off. "'This is what happens if you don't obey me'."

"So you think it's about spectacle?" asked Jason.

Teresa nodded. "Exactly. Whoever the killer is, he wants them to be found and seen so he can get his message across."

"Going by what we know that sounds right," I said.

"Totally," agreed Kimberly. "So where do we go from here?"

"We patrol the city," replied Jason. "Three of us can cover the industrial estate to the west of town, I want four people in the city itself, two south in Golden Beach, and three in the northern suburbs, Currimundi, Aroona and Wurtulla. Everyone needs to be careful - the killer may only be targeting crime offenders, but he's not going to be happy if anybody tries to interfere. Keep in contact at all times, and teleport to safety if you need to."

"What if he doesn't show?" asked Sarah.

"He will," replied Teresa. "He's got no reason not to. He's gotten away with it so far."

"Exactly," agreed Jason. "Except tonight is going to be different. Tonight, we'll be waiting for him."

"Brendan's across the highway between the airport and the timber yards," said Teresa, as she and Scott walked down into the city's industrial district, dark warehouses and empty factories on either side of the road, nobody else in sight. "If you want to patrol to the right of this road, and I'll head left."

Scott nodded. "Sounds like a plan," he said, then turned to his sister. "Just be careful, okay?"

Teresa smiled. "You're not going all big brothery on me, are you?" she asked. "Scott, we're twins."

"I've still got five minutes on you," Scott said.

The White Ranger laughed. "I'll be fine," she replied. "Thanks." Scott smiled, and as they reached an intersection, Scott headed right while Teresa turned down to the left.

The street was deserted, empty warehouses and chain-link fences on both sides, and working street-lamps seemed to be limited to about one per block. After glancing down a side-road, Teresa crossed another intersection, turned right and continued when her communicator beeped.

"Hey Teresa, it's Jason here. Just checking in. Everything okay?"

Passing an auto-repair yard where a doberman roughly the size of a pony was silently prowling the aisles of car-bodies, Teresa raised her communicator and spoke.

"I can't speak for Brendan or Scott, but there's no sign of our serial killer so far," she replied.

"It's pretty quiet in the city, too. I'll check back in five minutes, let me know if you find anything."

Teresa was about to reply when she suddenly realised that Jason's voice wasn't the only one disturbing the stillness of the night. Approaching another intersection, she could faintly hear two distinct voices, the first soft and whimpering and the second loud and threatening. Whatever was happening, somebody was in trouble. Teresa broke into a run, and raced around the building on the corner only to come to a sudden screeching halt.

"Teresa?" crackled Jason's voice. "Teresa, what's wrong?"

About twenty metres down the road on the other side of the street, five wooden stakes had been driven into the ground and stood framed against the night sky. Each one held a person, all of them tightly bound with thick rope. Around the base of each stake lay a pile of kindling. Three of the people already looked to be unconscious, the fourth was talking to himself in a low voice, while the fifth was pleading in the fearful voice she'd heard before. It wasn't difficult figuring out who he was speaking to.

A six-foot armoured warrior was standing nearby, towering over the five victims. His upper body was covered in stylised yet ancient-looking silver armour, and he wore black leg-plates and silver boots. A cloak the colour of blood fell from his shoulders, and a silver belt studded with rubies was wrapped around his stomach. Teresa could not see the warrior's face - it was hidden by a silver mask covering his head - but noticed a pair of fiery red eyes, burning brightly from behind the mask. And try as she might, Teresa couldn't quite shake the feeling that she'd seen this figure somewhere before.

"Pl...Please," the man tied to the stake was saying, as the warrior prowled from stake to stake, surveying his handiwork. "I have a wife...a family...you can't do this, for the love of...this is against the law, I..."

This caught the warrior's attention, and he immediately swung back towards the man. "You speak of the law!" he bellowed. "You spent a life-time mocking the law, what right do you have appealing to it now?"

The man shook his head, struggling uselessly against the ropes binding him. "I didn't...please show some mercy..."

"I will show as much mercy as you did for your victims," the warrior replied. "You are an affront to all that is righteous, and tonight Fury will extinguish your black heart with fire that would bring Atar himself to his knees!"

Teresa had heard enough. "Jason, he's here, I found him," she said quickly. "Call the police, send them to..." She glanced to the street-sign beside her, "the corner of Daniel and Wright Streets. And Jason..."

"We're on our way," said Jason, and the communicator fell silent.

Teresa glanced back to the vigilante and his five soon-to-be victims. He was still striding back and forth before the stakes, taking the time to admire his work - she couldn't know how long that would last. The means of setting fire to the victims wasn't readily visible, but judging by the way he was dressed, Teresa had a pretty good idea how he'd manage.

Turning to the warehouse beside her, she saw a firehose hanging on the wall beside her, connected directly to a hydrant underneath it. Racing forward and hoping the vigilante wouldn't notice her, Teresa quickly read the directions pinned to the wall, uncoiled the hose and aimed it for the closest stake. Without taking her eyes off the vigilante, she reached back, unhooked the lever and slammed it down.

A jet of water immediately exploded from the end of the hose, showering the scene with spray. The sheer force of the torrent would've knocked most adults back off their feet, but Teresa braced herself against the ground and stood firm, using the hose to drench the first victim and sweep away the kindling around his feet. Once the man was spluttering with water and thoroughly soaked, Teresa adjusted her aim and turned to the next victim in line.

The warrior noticed the jet of water only after a few seconds, and he spun around to find Teresa crossing the street and bringing the firehose closer. The warrior was visibly stunned, freezing in his tracks but recovering soon enough.

"Foolish child!" he roared, taking giant strides towards her. "What are you doing?"

"Helping somebody," Teresa called over the roar of the water, finishing with the second victim and turning to the third. "Try it sometime."

"You have no idea who you're dealing with!" the warrior cried, and raised his arm towards her. This had happened far too many times to doubt what was coming - Teresa threw the firehose aside and leaped to safety as blasts of orange flame shot from the warrior's hand, scorching through the air and smashing into the side of the warehouse, instantly destroying the firehose and taking an enormous piece out of the wall in the process.

Teresa landed lightly a few feet away, and the warrior turned to her.

"Go home child," he growled. "You do not understand Fury's mission."

"'Fury'?" Teresa repeated, then nodded. "Right, you're talking about yourself in third person. Trust me, that doesn't exactly inspire faith."

"I warn you," Fury began, taking another step towards Teresa, "I will not tolerate disobedience..."

"You keep away from her!" cried a voice, and Brendan raced past Teresa and leaped into the air, his heel on a direct course with Fury's torso. He slammed his foot into the warrior's chest and bounced off him, dropping to the ground and leaving Fury unfazed.

'Huh. That's usually way more effective,' Brendan thought, and it wasn't until he glanced down and realised he was still unmorphed that he knew why.

Fury looked down at him for a second longer, and with a shrug, casually swept Brendan into the air with a wave of his hand, sending him crashing to the pavement several metres away.

"Brendan!" cried Teresa.

Fury turned back to her and stepped closer. "I warned you not to cross me..."

Without warning, the Black Power Ranger somersaulted down between them, slicing his axe through the air and cleaving through Fury's chest-armour.

Zac raised his axe defensively as Fury stumbled backwards in a shower of sparks. "Believe me pal," he began, "you do not want to do that again." Keeping an eye on Fury and wary of the witnesses in the area, he turned back to Teresa and spoke. "Ma'am, I think your friend might be hurt..."

"Thanks," Teresa replied, and raced over to Brendan. Zac glanced quickly back to Fury but he needn't have worried - the vigilante's attention had been firmly captured by Zac's arrival.

"A Power Ranger," he growled, spitting the words out like poison, his eyes burning with anger, "one of the greatest heroes of the age, doing your best to make the world a better place while everybody sits at home watching you on television and expecting you to save them." He paused, and Zac knew Fury was sneering beneath his mask. "Come to save the day?"

The Black Ranger shook his head. "To stop you."

Fury laughed contemptuously. "I cannot be stopped."

Zac grinned. "Then one of us is in for a real nasty shock."

Fury roared in anger, and spinning around to a car parked by the curb, he placed his hands on either side of the hood and picked the entire vehicle up off the ground, launching it at the Black Ranger. Zac dived to safety as the car spun through the air and landed with a crash, its windows all shattering and doors flying open and tearing off. The car slid along the ground with a squeal of metal on bitumen before coming to a stop against the warehouse on the corner.

Zac rolled to his feet and raised his axe as Fury followed after him, but with a flash of light and a shower of sparks, Fury suddenly found himself facing the entire team of Power Rangers. Kim and Ian stepped forward on either side of Zac, each one brandishing their Power Weapons, while Jason and I raised our blades. Scott and Trini landed behind the rest of us, and immediately dashed over to Teresa and Brendan.

Fury glanced around the team of Rangers facing him, let out a low growl beneath his mask, and slowly took a step back.

"Never pick a fight with a Power Ranger," said Sarah. "We tend to come as a set."

Fury stepped back between two of the stakes, and fell into the shadow of the building behind them. "You will not tempt Fury from his righteous path," the vigilante replied, his voice strangely soft. "Not for a single second," and with that, he was gone. We all turned to each other and looked around - the twin points of fire that had been his eyes were shining in the darkness one second, and then the next, it was like he'd stepped through the air and vanished.

"Where'd he go?" asked Ian, lowering his blasters.

I shrugged, about to reply when the sound of sirens began to echo down the street, and turning, we saw a parade of police cars, ambulances and fire engines heading towards us.

"Brendan," said Jason suddenly, and we all raced over to where Teresa, Scott and Trini were kneeling around the downed Aqua Ranger. He looked up as we approached, and smiling weakly, made an effort to talk. No sound issued from his mouth.

"The police are here," said Jason, as the first police cars began to pull up behind us, "listen, I think...we're gonna have to get you out of here. Can you teleport?"

Brendan nodded slowly, and Jason turned to Zac and Tommy. "You guys stay here. Zac, tell them everything you saw but don't mention Teresa and Brendan." The Green and Black Rangers nodded and stepped back, and Jason continued. "We'll meet you back at the Command Centre. C'mon guys," and after Teresa had reached down and clasped Brendan's wrist, everybody tapped the top button on their communicators, and the team teleported from the scene.

Tommy and Zac materialised in the Central Chamber in a flash of light, and demorphing, they quickly joined the rest of us beneath Zordon's plasma tube.

Teresa immediately turned to face them. "How are they?"

"All the victims were still alive," nodded Tommy. "A couple of them were suffering from shock, but that was about it. They were all taken into police custody in case Fury tries again."

Teresa nodded. "At least we got there in time."

"That's pretty much all we've got to report," said Zac. "How's our soldier?"

"Feeling like he was hit by an Ultrazord," came a voice, and we all turned to see Brendan staggering back into the room holding his shirt in his hand, Alpha carrying a tray of medical supplies behind him. Brendan's chest was wrapped in white bandages, and the parts that weren't hidden all seemed to be turning interesting shades of purple. "But otherwise okay."

Zac smiled. "At least you didn't have a car thrown at you," he joked.

"Alpha," I said, "how is he?"

"Ayeyiyi," began Alpha. "Three of Brendan's ribs are fractured, and although it looks worse than it really is, it's still a serious injury. At your age Rangers, your bones are still growing, so he'll have to take care in the next few weeks."

Jason turned to Brendan. "Which means you'll be staying out of action from here on in."

Brendan frowned. "And I was such a success as a punching bag, too..."

Removing a glass bottle from the first-aid kid, Alpha turned to Brendan and dropped it into his hand. "Take one of these pills every morning," the robot instructed. "They'll help ease the pain, and will accelerate bone mending and regrowth in your chest."

"Thanks," Brendan replied, and carefully put his shirt back on as Alpha tucked the first-aid kit underneath the nearest control panel.

"Rangers," boomed Zordon, and everybody looked up to the interdimensional sage who'd been waiting patiently for the last fifteen minutes. "I can assure you, it's a pleasure to see you all," he began, "and I understand that the twelve of you are on school holidays at the moment, perhaps necessitating the need to keep yourselves busy. But if I may be so bold as to inquire, what on Earth have you gotten yourselves into?"

Standing side-by-side, Jason and I turned to each other and looked back up to Zordon.

"Well," began Jason, "it's kind of a long story. See, the thing is..."

And from that point on, we told Zordon and Alpha everything that had happened over the last couple of days, starting with yesterday morning in the Youth Centre right up to tonight where our guesswork paid off. To their credit, they both listened without interrupting. Jason and Teresa spoke the most, telling the story together, while the rest of us joined in occasionally.

"...And the reason we didn't tell you," finished Jason, "is I was worried we'd be wasting your time chasing after a normal human murderer as opposed to monitoring an entire galaxy full of supervillains."

Zordon nodded. "First of all, you made the right decision, Rangers, to get involved. Even if this serial killer is entirely human, the fact that people are in danger and you wish to intervene is all that matters. Alpha and I will be more than happy to lend you all our resources in aid of solving these crimes."

"Thanks Zordon," replied Kimberly.

"And after tonight, we'll need them," said Ian. "I think it's a safe bet we were right - whoever this Fury guy is, he ain't human."

Sarah smiled. "What gave it away? The blasts of fire, throwing a car like a tennis-ball, or vanishing into thin air?"

Ian shook his head. "The ridiculously-lousy fashion sense."

"Good point."

"Hey guys," called Trini, standing with Billy over by the viewing screen. "We've got him." Everybody turned around to see a figure of the armoured warrior on the viewing screen.

Zac nodded. "That's our badguy," he said. "That's Fury."

"His name certainly does him justice," said Scott. "So what do we know about him?"

"He's not as supernatural as he looks, for a start," said Teresa. "Only a local would know about the specific crimes that he's punishing his victims for, and there were those things he said about sitting at home and watching us on television. He might have superpowers, but I'd bet that under that mask, he's human."

Brendan turned to her. "So the twelve of us aren't the only people in Caloundra with secret identities?"

Teresa shook her head. "No, not any more," she replied. "He also said something else though," she continued. "When I first got there, he said something about...uh..." She searched her memory. "Making...Atar tremble, or something."

"That is unusual," said Trini. "I wrote an ancient history assignment a few months back, and I think Atar is the god of fire in Persian mythology."

"So there's a Persian god on the loose killing lawbreakers?" asked Tommy, his eyebrows raised.

"It couldn't be that easy," Teresa replied, "but it probably wouldn't hurt to check it out. Alpha, could you print-out some information on Atar?"

Alpha nodded. "Ayeyiyi, I'll be just a minute," he said, immediately turning to the nearest control panel.

"Are you positive that would be beneficial to our investigation?" asked Billy. "Treating mythological tales as serious evidence in a murder investigation..."

"At the moment it's all we've got," said Jason. "It might help."

Sheets of paper began to print out from the console Alpha had been working at, and he began handing them around the room.

"Okay," said Jason, "if we can read through this tonight, see if anybody thinks of anything, and we can meet back here tomorrow morning at eight to figure our next move."

Everybody nodded, but Zac stepped forward and looked over to Teresa. "Hey, guys, listen," he began. "Before everybody goes, I just wanted to say sorry. For being a jerk this morning in the Youth Centre." He paused, cautiously meeting Teresa's eyes. "Just, the thought of actually defending monsters, it kinda freaked me out, that's all."

Teresa nodded. "Thanks" she said. "And you know what? For what it's worth, I agree with you."

"You do?"

"Definitely," she replied. "I shudder to think what those five people we rescued tonight were never punished for - but at the end of the day, that doesn't matter. There's a reason we have a legal system, and it may not be perfect, but at least if there's flaws in the system, there's a chance to fix them. What happens if Fury kills somebody and he's wrong? How can you fix that kind of mistake?"

Zac shook his head. "You can't," he said softly. "Which is why we've gotta find him and kick his teeth in before he does it again, right?"

Teresa smiled. "More or less," she replied.

A short moment of silence followed, broken only by several loud yawns.

"Okay, I'm thinking we should head home before we collapse of exhaustion right here," I said.

"A night's rest will do you all the world of good," nodded Zordon, as we all prepared to teleport. "Good night, Rangers."