Chapter 8: The Second Accident
After several sunlit days, or one elongated glorified minute, they broke apart, Elizabeth's eyes dancing with firelight and Rocky panting for breath. She arched her eyebrow again, obviously prompting him to answer her challenge.
"That was a very convincing answer." Rocky replied, smiling.
Elizabeth beamed, "I thought so too. Are you convinced?"
Rocky pretended to mull over the idea. "Hmm…well, I suppose, but you will have to prove yourself to me every once in awhile."
Elizabeth grinned, kissing his cheek. "We'll see," Then, ducking playfully from Rocky's returning kiss, she smiled teasingly.
"I never thought you were so hard to please, Rocky." She smirked teasingly.
Rocky grinned back, "I am high maintenance," but before he could say anything else, they were interrupted by the familiar six-tone beep that they had become so intimately acquainted with in the past two years.
"I read you, Zordon. Elizabeth's here as well." Rocky spoke into his communicator after checking their surroundings. His voice instantly registered leadership mode, and it surprised Elizabeth how quickly he could be become so serious after their lengthy intimate moment.
"Rocky, Elizabeth, Zedd and Rita have sent a group of putties down by the caves. I need you to teleport there and see what is going on." Zordon requested.
"Right, Zordon," Rocky lowered his communicator and sighed heavily. He turned to his girlfriend with evident disdain. "Looks like we're going to have hold off on our conversation for awhile," Elizabeth smiled bemusedly and nodded, squeezing his hand in acceptance. "Come on, we need Zeo Power now!" He swung his arms together until his right Zeonizer locked vertically in place to his left horizontally-held Zeonizer, causing a gold disc to flip up from his left wristband, creating a burst of blue Zeo energy, and initiating the morph.
"Zeo Ranger 4!" Rocky shouted, moving his arms down to his side as his suit activated, blue light flooding out from his Zeonizer disc.
"Zeo Ranger 3!" Elizabeth shouted, swinging her arms together until her Zeonizers connected and created a splash of green Zeo energy. She quickly brought her arms down to her side as her suit activated too, green light spilling out from her Zeonizer disc.
Once morphed, the two Rangers teleported out of the park and leapt into action, landing within range of the putties, who were harassing a group of young children. Rocky and Elizabeth took fighting stances alongside one another.
"Hey, pea-brains, look over here!" Rocky yelled, alerting the putties to the Rangers' presence. They released the children, who ran off, screaming.
The putties took up fighting stances as well, challenging the Rangers. Rocky and Elizabeth looked at each other and smiled under their helmets. "Ready for another round of fun?"
"You bet I am." Instantaneously, the two Rangers leapt into battle. Renewed strength coursed through Rocky as he fought the foot soldiers with ease. That's what they get for messing with me this morning, Rocky thought as he kicked one putty into another.
The battle continued for a few more minutes, until Rocky gave his last putty a roundhouse kick to the stomach. The putty stumbled, fell back, and disappeared. Rocky straightened up and looked around, spotting Elizabeth dusting herself off. He ran up to her, pumped with energy.
"That was easy." He remarked, surveying the area.
"A little bit too easy, if you ask me. I think Zedd's got something bigger than just a few dim-witted putties for us to handle." Elizabeth countered.
Before Rocky could reply, a malicious laugh spliced the air in two. Rocky and Elizabeth turned around, tensed as they faced what appeared to be Zedd and Rita's new monster.
"And who might you be?" Rocky asked rudely.
"Where are your manners, Blue Ranger? Hasn't your mother taught you anything?" The monster retorted hauntingly.
"Yeah, she taught me not to talk to strangers!" Rocky barked, drawing out his Zeo pistol and taking aim. Surprisingly, the monster dodged easily, blocking Rocky's blasts. The monster withdrew a tall staff and aimed at Rocky, sending him flying backwards.
Elizabeth ran to the Blue Ranger's side, fear pounding in her heart. "Rocky! Rocky, are you alright?"
Wheezing, Rocky grasped onto Elizabeth's arm and pulled himself up roughly. "Yeah, I'm okay, but this guy's no picnic!"
"Finished yet, Rangers?" The monster smirked. "I am Armageddon, and I shall not be defeated!"
"Yeah right, and I'm best friends with Rita!" Elizabeth snapped. She sprinted into a run, extracting her Zeo pistol from its holster. Instantly alert, the monster sent crackling bursts of fire towards the Green Ranger, but Elizabeth managed to dodge the monster's blasts as she somersaulted through the air, shooting Armageddon with her pistol. The monster staggered back a few steps, and Elizabeth finished her attack with a flying kick to the monster's stomach.
Armageddon flew back to the ground. Growling, the monster stood up as fast as he could. Glaring at Elizabeth, he snarled, "I will not permit some cheesy Ranger to defeat me!" He withdrew his staff and attacked Elizabeth fiercely, showers of bright flames penetrating through Elizabeth's Zeo suit. She stumbled in astonishment, trying to prepare for another round of attack. Armageddon didn't allow her any time to relax, as he sent another round of shots, sending Elizabeth flying into the air and hitting dead-smack into a tree. She crumbled to the ground, and at once, her Zeo suit flickered and dissolved, leaving her back in her street clothes, her body motionless and battered.
Before anyone could make another move, four columns of light landed between Rocky and Armageddon. Kat swiftly checked on Rocky and helped him up. The five remaining Rangers took fighting stances against the monster.
"You mess with one of us; you mess with all of us." The Red Zeo Ranger shouted. Behind him, the other Rangers steadied themselves for battle.
The monster grinned wickedly, "Catch you on the flip side, Rangers!" And he vanished in a trace of bright orange light, leaving the Rangers bewildered and frustrated.
Once Armageddon left, Rocky separated from the team, demorphing as he ran towards Elizabeth's unconscious body. He seized her wrist and paused, sighing to himself as he found her weak but steady pulse.
He heard his friends approach him and turned around, meeting the soot-ridden faces of Tommy, Kat, and Tanya. He assumed that they had still been planting when Zordon called them to action. Adam looked relatively spotless, but Rocky could detect signs of weariness and strain on the Black Ranger. Slightly confused by his best friend's antics, Rocky simply cradled Elizabeth wordlessly in his arms. The other Rangers knelt down beside him.
"What happened?" Kat asked, her soft accented voice betraying her worry.
Rocky stifled a sob, supporting Elizabeth's limp body. Tanya squeezed his shoulder in comfort.
"She…that monster…he just…" Rocky couldn't bring himself to say anything. He didn't know how to explain the string of events that had led them up to this. The other Rangers nodded sympathetically. They didn't pressure Rocky to say anything more. They knew, in time, he would reveal what happened.
"We better go to the Power Chamber and get her checked up." Tommy said, instantly going back to leader mode. The others agreed reluctantly, watching Rocky as he continued to cradle Elizabeth.
"Come on, Rocky." Adam said, taking his friend by the arm and hauling him up. Rocky followed the others mutely, and still holding onto Elizabeth, disappeared with the other Rangers in flashes of colorful lights