SEQUEL TO: ORDINARY WORLD
SUMMARY: The Psycho Rangers have capturedthree keyrangers as Mindshatter foils up another plan to use against the remaining team. But what kind of plan does Mindshatter have in mind?
DISCLAIMER: Power Rangers is not mine. I only own the power of how this is gonna end. So, I hope you liked what I've managed to change in this respect. If anyone has any ideas to throw my way before this story ends, I'd like to hear it. Email me or do what you must to let it be heard.
A/N: Okay, so I've added in another intense moment, but there are gonna mbe quite a bit as I finally shelf this under the completed files. Again, if you want to make some contributions with ideas for this story, or any you might want me to write about, hit me up with your ideas. Enjoy and se you when I do.
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"Not again. Why is there always a time where someone is bounded to get captured for some evil plan we do not want to face. We have to get them out of there before anything happens to them. We will not let Mindshatter use us like puppets in his destruction toward Earth and us." -Eclyptyk Neo
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Island fortress. Hours later.
The three remaining psycho rangers watched as the three captive rangers finally fell limp in their chairs. They had no idea what Mindshatter was planning for the three rangers, nor wanted to ask about it. Each of the rangers still remained in their ranger suits as it became more evident that their bodies were growing weak and tired. Though they were never sympathetic over the loss of a teammate, they had grown angry with the loss. It was something they didn't need right now, and they were also upset about failing to end the rangers' existence when they had the chance. Now, they stood in the shadows as Mindshatter walked over to the red space ranger.
Mindshatter pulled the strange device off of Andros' head and moved over to his side. Andros slowly came to, but his thoughts were jumbled and his vision blurred.
"Where am I? What happened?" Andros said dazed and dizzy. His head swung back and forth, but his eyes couldn't seem to make out anything in the room. It was dark as far as he could tell.
"After that last battle, I'm surprised you're even alive, my friend," Mindshatter spoke. His voice was calm and almost mesmerizing. That whatever he said seemed to be recorded into Andros' mind like a record. But it sounded strangely like Zhane, even if it still held a bit of Mindshatter in it.
"Zhane? Wait, no. You're dead," Andros shook his head.
"I am. I shouldn't be, but I don't blame you for it, Andros. I had gone out there on my own, with those cybots and lost my life because of it. But did you know that TJ and the others still blame you for the death of the Lost Galaxy Rangers? And me? Why do you think Karone can't look at you the same way anymore? She hates you for letting me die, but you never did. It was my own fault."
"What?" Andros breathed as he shook his head. "No. It wasn't your fault. I tried to..."
"They're the enemy now, Andros. They always were," the universal soldier stated, still sounding like Zhane. Or how he was manipulating Andros' thoughts to think of that. His voice rose, drilling in the words into the mind of the red space ranger. "They could never be trusted. You could have saved Zordon without them. And remember, they didn't trust you when Karone came back to the good side. They were always jealous. They thought you were selfish for killing Zordon, but then again you had no choice. They could never understand it like you because they never exactly knew him."
Andros shook his head trying to fight the words. "No. It can't be true. How do I know you're telling me the truth?"
"See for yourself, Andros," Mindshatter said slowly as he waved a hand over the head of the red space ranger. The images of the raging battle in space over Mirinoi took place. But Mindshatter had twisted the images to reveal what he had just told him to show the "truth." The images showed the jealousy of his teammates, the anger in his sister, the destruction of the planet of Mirinoi as well as the rangers in battle. "You see? You had told them that you needed to get to Mirinoi. They didn't believe you and in the end, it had cost the lives of the Lost Galaxy Rangers and your best friend. Me. Now, they blame it all on you because you weren't fast enough to stop the mayhem. They don't trust you. They hate you for your failures."
Andros dropped his head. The images now planted in his head seemed real enough. Convincing and had the answers he needed. But that was the thing. His head was spinning and couldn't make sense of anything that happened before the very moments he heard that voice enter his mind. There was something about it. Relaxing. Telling the truth. That it truly sounded like Zhane. "So, what do I do?"
"There are only so few to trust, Andros. Trust me. I am telling you the truth. Did you also know that Carlos and Ashley have been having a secret relationship behind your back? They had one going even before they headed up to space, but never got a chance to develop it because being a ranger came first. But now, they had the time..."
"What!" Andros breathed as fury ran through his body. "You're lying. I've heard enough from you, Zhane. It's a lie."
Mindshatter nodded slowly and took a step back. "Very well. But I am only telling you the truth, Andros. Beware of your enemies. They could be even closer than you would have thought. In those you used to call your friends. They've betrayed you, but you never did. They must be destoyed, Andros. Avenge my death for Karone," He waved his hand slowly and watched as Andros' body fell into a deep slumber. He moved over to the white drago ranger and pulled away the contraption from his helmet.
The white drago ranger stirred with a moan as he began to move his head, looking around. But his vision was blurry and the darkness only made it worse. He couldn't see a thing at all, but could only hear the footsteps around him. He felt the presence of someone behind him. "Who are you? Where am I?"
Mindshatter pushed himself forward as he hit the chair, surprising the teen. He began to morph, change into Mesogog as he blinked slowly looking down at the white DT ranger. "Trent, it's me." His voice had changed to fit that of Anton/Mesogog combined.
"Dad?" Trent tried to pull himself out of the chair. "Dad, is that you?"
"Hear this voice! Feel these claws and this face!" Mindshatter bellowed as Trent fell into a panic. The white DT ranger tried to break free, but couldn't budge. "They did it, Trent. They did this to me. They made me into Mesogog again."
"They! Who's they?" Trent breathed. He was in a panic and was unsure what to believe. Everything before that moment seemed like a blur. He didn't know what exactly was going on, or where he was. but he almost felt like he had to believe this voice. He had to. It sounded just like his father's.
"Your so called friends, Conner, Ethan and Kira. They betrayed you. Only Tommy could believe you. He tried to save me, but now it's too late. I am forever Mesogog, Trent," Mindshatter continued to toy with the teen's mind as the voice became more darker with Mesogog's voice.
"No. I don't believe it," Trent shook his head. "Dad! It's not too late. We can still save you. Me and Dr. Oliver."
Mindshatter shook his head as the voice of Anton returned. "I can't be saved. You're only lucky that I'm not dead yet."
"No. We can still save you," Trent protested.
"It's too late," Mindshatter bellowed. "Those other rangers never took to you kindly anyway. You were after all evil at one time, Trent..."
"But the evil encoding was destroyed," Trent countered.
"That may be true, but they could never trust you. Only Tommy did because he knew exactly what it was like. Kira did, but she still feared you. None of them were convinced that the evil within you had completely left. They never could quite accept you. They still don't, after all these months. Have you noticed the great concern Conner has over Ethan and Kira? Kira especially. Why do you think he seems to protect her the most? He has feelings for her. Trying to take her away from you, even if he already has a girlfriend. He'll dump her just as soon as he finally gets Kira around his arm. He doesn't care about you or Tommy. You were never there in the beginning. You didn't take the same punishment they did. You never played the ropes like they did because you knew you should have been leader when you joined the team. The more powerful ranger should lead the team. Not the color of your suit."
"No. Stop. That's enough." Trent shook his head. But the words seemed to tell him the truth. And as Mindshatter waved a hand over the head of Trent, the twisted images of what he had just mentioned played through his head. The lies were being filled into his mind, blinding him from the real truth.
"They're jealous of you, Trent. They would have left you to rot in that fortress if they could. Both you and me. Or they would have left you to fight off Mesogog on your own with Tommy just because they didn't want to make the sacrifice," Mindshatter continued to say as Trent tried to fight out of the words. "Trust me, Trent. I've been there. Only I know how to find a way out of it."
Trent wanted to cry. He didn't know what to believe. The images now locked in his mind had told him enough. The voice of this strange figure, he swore was his father, seemed to know what was going on from the very beginning. He seemed to speak the truth unlike any other. "What do I do?"
"Destroy them, Trent. Destroy the other rangers. Make them pay for what they did to me. For not believing in you or Tommy. They are your enemy, Trent. They always will be no matter what they try to say." Mindshatter melted back into the shadows. He waved his hand and watched as Trent's body went limp and fell into a deep slumber.
Mindshatter, now back in his normal form, slowly moved over to his final target, the black DT ranger. He pulled off the contraption and looked into the visor of the black DT ranger as he finally stirred.
Tommy groaned trying to blink out the blurriness in his eyes, but couldn't find a way to clear it. His head felt heavy as he slowly moved it from left to right. He wanted to move his arms, but couldn't since they were strapped down, and he immediately began to panic. Even as he tried to figure out how he got there or even what had happened in the past few days, or even hours, it all seemed like a blur to him. "Where am I? What's going on?"
"Ease up, Handsome," Mindshatter said slowly as he waved a hand, the black DT ranger slowly relaxed into the comfort of the chair. His voice and appearance now belonged to his wife and former teammate, Kim. "After that last battle, I thought you'd never wake up. How are you feeling?"
"Like a semi ran over my head. And a baseball bat knocked the shit out of my eyes. I can't see anything," he groaned as he looked around again. His head was spinning, and he wasn't sure what to believe, but somehow the comfort in that voice had told him enough. "Why am I strapped down? And why am I still in my ranger suit?"
"I didn't want to alarm you. Sometimes when you wake up, you lash out in fear. You can get cranky. Just a minor precaution. Here, lemme loosen those bindings," the voice of Kim replied as the hands moved to unlock him from the chair. "Unfortunately, that last battle had re-set your morpher. But you should be fine in a few hours."
Tommy groaned as he began to flex his arms. But they ached from pain he wasn't quite sure came from. "Why am I in pain?"
"They're dangerous, Tommy," Mindshatter bellowed as the voice came out more like a sob. "The other rangers. They would have destroyed you, Trent and Andros just to destroy the psycho rangers. And they almost succeeded."
Tommy blinked trying to figure out what he was hearing. Something just didn't seem right about any of this, but it had been coming out of his wife's mouth. He had to believe it. "What! There's no way that they tried to kill me."
"Do you love me, Tommy? Answer me that," the voice grew louder and more serious.
"'Do I love you'? What does that got to do with me being strapped down or you freaking out about the other rangers trying to kill me?"
"Do you love me, Tommy?" she repeated.
"Of course I do, Kimberly. I did marry you..." he began.
"So, you don't trust me? The word of your wife, who knows you better than anyone else? Who should know you better than anyone else, am I right?"
"Well, yeah of course, but..." he tried to say.
"If you love me and if you truly trust me, than what I'm telling you should be the truth. They almost destroyed you, Tommy. How can you trust your teammates for something like that? It sounds like betrayal."
"They were doing their job. Any ranger would have done that. Even you," he said. "How come you remember the battle, but I don't? I thought you were sleeping."
"Did I mention that they blame you for all this evil reign in the first place? If you never were the evil green ranger in the beginning, Trent wouldn't have followed. Evil would have been destroyed very early on. And they wouldn't have to become rangers at all. As much as you had trusted them, they have felt your betrayal. Mostly for Mesogog turning you against us. They even feel it now, unsure where your loyalty lies. But your loyalty is still with me and the other rangers, right?"
"No. I mean, yes. But what you just told me can't be true. It just can't be," Tommy shook his head. "You didn't even answer my question."
"They hate you for taking away their normal lives, Tommy. I've tried to tell them otherwises, but they don't believe me. So, I fled. We've been hanging out here in this motel room all night."
"Even Serena?" he asked slowly.
"She has sided with them on this, Handsome. It's only you and me."
"And Adam and the others? They've sided with Conner, Ethan and Kira?"
"They all hate you for taking them out of their normal lives. I kept telling them that they had volunteered their time, but they wouldn't take it from a former ranger. They won't listen to me. They're jealous of you also because you've been classifed as Mr. World's Greatest. Always doing all this suicide stuff just to save a friend. Knowing so much about the past ranger teams. They feel you're stealing all the spotlight away. That you don't need them to win this battle if you know so much, as they put it."
"What! That's crazy talk. It can't be true. Kim, what's really going on?" Tommy shook his head. What he needed was straight answers. No more of these lies, if they were lies. He needed to know the truth.
Mindshatter growled internally. He hadn't realized how hard it was to try an manipulate the mind of the black DT ranger. He didn't have to try so hard with the other two, and he had drained them of their thoughts, shielded them from the truth, but it didn't seem to have a strong enough effect on Tommy. He smacked the helmet of the black DT ranger. "Listen to me, Tommy. They don't want you on the team anymore. Why do you think they tried to destroy you? They just don't care about you anymore. Are you gonna take that from them? You gotta knock some sense into them. Maybe make up your own team. A team you can actually trust and they trust you because they don't seem to right now."
Tommy shook his head. "But I do trust them. How can you say that about them, Kim? You're talking about your friends, too."
"Tommy, they kicked us out of our own house! They turned their backs on us! Did you know they blame you for the death of Trini and your brother? Did you also know that they had betrayed you when you went to save Trent weeks ago and believed that Mesogog could be saved? They lost hope in trying to save him, but you or Trent haven't. I don't either. But will they listen to me? Or you? They're almost about to lose hope in this battle with Mindshatter. You call them rangers for thinking of that?"
Tommy wasn't sure if he should believe any of this. but then he felt his mind being filled with the images she had just spoken of. Of the "truth" of their betrayal, jealous and anger in his teammates and friends. That the real truth was being shielded from his eyes and a new reality had been placed before him, the one that he had just heard about. A line of rage fell over his body. "They have no idea what I've been through."
"I know, baby. I shouldn't hate them. It's wrong, but the way they just kicked us out just doesn't fit in my book." It fell silent for a moment. "I also fled because I was scared."
"Scared about what?" he looked toward the voice of his wife. The anger still present in his body and the fear for hearing her sound like she was crying.
"Of Adam. I think he's falling for me. If you saw some of the times he looked at me. And how he would care for me, it's almost like he wants me," her voice shook with fear.
"What!" he breathed. "Adam taking you away from me? No way. That's a lie, Kim."
"Think about it, Tommy. He has been the only other ranger who has hung around since this all began. All the others went back to their normal lives, but he never really left. He has always been around. And you know how he is still single. I think he's starting to find something in me where loneliness is in his heart."
"We'll see about that," Tommy said slowly as the rage continued to grow.
"I don't trust them anymore, Tommy. I'm not sure who to trust anymore. I'm scared. I don't think I will rest easily until I know we're both happy."
"I would do anything to make you happy, Beautiful." he surrendered knowing that he had to do something to stop this mayhem. He had seen the truth and knew he had to fix it for both of them.
"Anything?" she asked as he nodded. "If you truly love me and care for me, you will destroy the reign of their madness. Destroy the other rangers, Tommy. They've done their time and they failed to see their mistakes. They must go. They're the enemy." Mindshatter melted back into the shadows as he waved his hand and the black DT ranger fell into a deep slumber.
Mindshatter emerged from the shadows as his normal self and left the room with the three psycho rangers following behind him.
"What was that all about?" psycho yellow asked.
"You'll find out soon enough, my friends," Mindshatter bellowed. "Be prepared for an assault by the other rangers. I'm sure they'll be along shortly to try and rescue their friends."
The three psycho rangers acknowledged his comment and disappeared up the hall. Mindshatter turned to see a figure emerge from the shadows. It was Dinoshade as he bowed before his master and pulled out a device.
"I have done it, my master," Dinoshade nodded. "The morphing energy has been manipulated without their detection."
"You'd better have, Dinoshade. I hate to see you fail me again," Mindshatter bellowed. He snatched the device from his loyal henchman and left.
Dinoshade let out a growl, turned and headed the other way.
Another figure emerged from the shadows as the heavy gaze of the yellowish-brown eyes of Mesogog were trained on the direction Mindshatter had gone. He melted back into the shadows and moved back against the corridor undetected.
XXXXXXXXXX
Angel Grove. Power Chamber.
Billy had been working frantically at the main computer, despite the late hour. And though it was late, it still seemed to keep Karone up. As much or as little as she knew about computers, she wanted to keep the technical advisor company. But it was clear that he was already getting frustrated with his work. He wasn't getting anywhere.
"It just doesn't make sense," he said more to himself, but turned to the other figure looming behind him. "I've ran through the primary routines and sub-codes over a hundred times and can't find out what is wrong with it. I haven't even established a stable connection with Cam in Reefside. There's no way to contact them."
Karone put a hand on his shoulder, trying to be reassuring. Since her early retirement as a Ranger, and as little time spent in it, she had become well aware of their existence through the years because of her brother. But it was clear she was still living with the scars of her dark past as Astronema. "I'm sure we'll get it running in no time, Billy. You've already done enough for the night. You should get some rest."
He nodded slowly as he pushed a few keys on the console. But then another blinking light came on from another console. He raced over to it with Karone following. He pushed a few buttons to widen the signal. "I've logged on to something. It looks like some sort of brainwave patterns of some kind. They're completely erratic though and I can't get a real lock."
"What if you narrowed the lock and power it up to that area?" she suggested as she pushed a few buttons.
He gave it a try and watched as the monitor changed. It soon showed three different brainwave patterns and a normal set underneath each of them. "It's Tommy's, Trent's and Andros' brainwave patterns. But something isn't right. Their brainwave patterns should be like the one beneath each of these erractic readings, but it seems like they're in some sort of trance."
"Meaning?" her voice grew with more worry. She had to admit with the trust she had in her brother, Andros, she always felt she had to keep a close eye on him. Make sure he didn't get into a mix of trouble, and it was clear that this was one thing with a lot of trouble.
Billy thought for a moment. He looked over the readings again as a little light in his head went off. It was almost like he had hit a deja vu moment as he shook his head. "Their brainwave patterns are being altered. And I think Mindshatter is to blame for that..."
"Can't you do anything about it?" Karone asked in desperation.
"Not from here. And if I have it right, this sounds strangely familiar. Tommy had gone hrough this before in his past with Gaskett. I think Mindshatter is doing the same thing in making them believe that we are the enemy and not Mindshatter." Billy pushed a few buttons on the console and sighed deeply. "Unfortunately, since we're firing up this equipment after such a long time, it will take some time to upgrade it. We can only hope the team in Reefside is already looking into the situation."
Karone thought for a moment. She had remembered the information Andros had passed on to her and the other space rangers regarding the history within the Ranger timeline trough the years. She had remembered being briefed about this same thing and had hoped the worst couldn't occur. But she wasn't sure. "Do you think it would be permanent this time?"
Billy shook his head. "No. I have come to notice that Mindshatter I underestimating the human spirit quite a lot. He has much to learn about us than we do about him. Tommy had told me to look up the contents in a disk he had obtained from Anton weeks ago, but I haven't been able to look at it since I've been here for some time."
"Does he know what's on it?" Karone grew curious with the sudden news.
"No. I don't. And neither does he. Except, I'm the only one who really knows about it among the other rangers, and I left it back in Reefside. I'd prefer not to leave until I know we got things running here securely," he admitted. It was clear she couldn't take him away from his work at the technology set before him. He was after all a whiz and responsible for much of the work when the zeo rangers were active.
She patted his shoulder. "Well, I could help you, but I'm not quite sure what to do."
"No. It's all right, Karone. You should get some sleep. I'll let you know if I find anything or need your assistance," he said.
She reluctantly followed his requested and left the chamber. Lucky for her, the space rangers had re-modified the place to fit the needs of their stay. It was there home now. For the most part not much could be done about it. They really had no other place to go or intended to make many public appearance unless they needed to.
Billy had moved from console to console using his technological expertise to upgrade the equipment. But he was still frustrated with some of the work that didn't seem to progress through his hard work. He had kept a close eye on the monitor marked with the brainwave patterns of his friends and hoped that nothing extremely bad was going on.
"May the powers protect you, my friends," he whispered quietly as he continued on with his work.
XXXXXXXXXX
Underground DT lab, Reefside.
Despite the late hour, none of the rangers had departed to get some much needed rest. They were still in search of a way into the island fortress. And they were running out of time. The more time they were stuck searching for answers, the more time it put between them rescuing their teammates and wondering what Mindshatter's dark plan was with them. If he so desired to cause such destruction with his new captive rangers.
Though fatigue was grasping most of them, they refused to leave. Even under the doctor's orders of Adam as he tried to send them to rest.
"You can't expect us to leave with our teammates captive by Mindshatter," TJ protested. He looked back at his fellow space rangers and saw the tiredness in their eyes. "As much as we're all looking for some sleep time, we can't."
"I'm not saying we're giving up. I"m just saying you need to rest," Adam spoke as he changed his words around. "After that last battle, I think we all need it. Those psycho rangers will be back and more powerful than ever."
"But there is only thre of them," Ethan said still trying to keep his eyes open. But he was dozing just as much as his own teammates.
"Even with three they're still strong," Carlos spoke up as he yawned. He pushed himself off the wall and approached his teammate in blue. "But Adam's got a point, TJ. We need some rest to conserve our energy."
"As the clock ticks Mindshatter could be doing who knows what to Andros, Tommy and Trent," TJ spoke up as he shook his head. Despite his color, he was still second in command for the space ranger team. And he still had the skills of any leader of a ranger team.
"But I still haven't gotten a lock on an invisi-portal. Until I do, we can't do anything but sit here and wait," Cam spoke from his seat at the main computer console. He continued to push more buttons, but found nothing. He looked behind him to see the sleeping bodies of the two female space rangers, the yellow rangers and the dozing DT teens. "And if you look around this room more than half of you have already fallen asleep or are getting close to it."
Adam nodded as he looked back at the blue space ranger. "Don't get me wrong, TJ, I know we're all wanting to get them out of there, but if we don't get any rest we'll be going in there literally out in the open and unarmed. Cam will let us know if he finds anything."
TJ looked back at his own teammates as Carlos tapped them awake. He sighed and looked back at Adam and knew he was right. "I guess you're right. I can only hope that Billy is having some luck up in Angel Grove."
"With as much luck as we're getting here, I'm not sure he's any farther than us," Cam replied. "But you guys should head out and get some rest. Trust me, Mindshatter will give it a few hours before he decides to make an attack."
Adam had moved to the other side of the room, nudging his best friend awake. Rocky stirred with a groan looking up at the figure passing him. He tapped Tanya on the shoulder before laying a kiss on her head to wake her up. She stirred and slowly got to her feet falling into his embrace. Adam moved to wake Aisha as she slowly came to and got to ther feet. The sudden shuffle in footsteps shook the DT teens awake as they followed suit.
And slowly, but with some energy left, had moved out of the room to some much needed sleep in the line of hidden corridors beyond the lab. Since the recent setback of pulling some late nights, there had been several modifications to some sleeping quarters in the underground cave. It had yet to be fully developed but it beat sleeping around in the lab trying to find a comfortable place to be. It was another room which had been carved out for an extension to the lab, but never got completed. There were a few cots lined up in there with a few bunks to finish it off. The floor and walls were already plastered with the same markings in the lab and was feasible for a few hours of sleep.
Meanwhile, in the main room of the underground lab, Cam worked in silence. Aside from the whir and humming from the machines all over the room, he had gotten used to it when he worked alone. He mworked to send a distress call or a signal to any other bodies that could pick it up, hoping to get a reply.
He was unable to make any contact with Billy in Angel Grove or Shane or Cyber Cam back at Ninja Ops in Blue Bay Harbor. He had tried for some time, but got nowhere with it. He just hoped that the distress calls could get picked up by either party. He needed some back-up while he knew it was still available.
to be continued...
A/N: So, there is some nitty-gritty stuff here. Now, will it turn out good or bad? C'mon. Have I ever done anything extremely destructive to destroy the joy of reading something like this? Yeah, right. I can't make it that much of a tear-jerking. I would hate myself if I did that. But I will admit one thing. I have no real idea how this will end. I'm just sorta going with the flow of how I feel about this story at the time. I hope you like it so far. Hit me with ideas. And I'll see you when I do. Later daze! May the powers Always Protect You Always.