I took a really minor detail from the show (Marah and Kapri fighting over a date with Choobo- don't ask me why they would...) and twisted it... a lot, to make it work for my story. I might be doing more of that in the future. I've already got one other detail pinned down that I want to incorporate.
And now, read on... as the plot thickens.... (don don don) heh ok I'm done now...
****************
"Oh but do I really HAVE to?" Marah complained. She had been asked on a second date with Choobo after her first victory against Kapri, in which Marah had asked Choobo out before Kapri could. Marah had thought at the time that she wanted to go out with Choobo, but after the first date she realized her tragic mistake in judging his character. Unfortunately, he had asked her on another excursion, and since Kapri knew that the first date hadn't worked out, she had naturally volunteered Marah for another round. It was probably just revenge for not being the one to date him, Marah figured.
"You should feel honored. Choobo is very... high in stature," Kapri said with no hint of comfort whatsoever, knowing perfectly well how much Marah disliked Choobo. "Now take off your headdress so I can try and do SOMETHING with this hair of yours."
Marah pulled off her massive headdress and set it on the vanity. It took up almost the entire surface. Wincing, she braced herself as Kapri yanked out a tangle and started to pull chunks of Marah's hair in different directions. After nearly an hour, Kapri had finished working.
"You're just hopeless, you know that," Kapri sighed nastily. Marah let the comment roll off her back as she looked in the mirror. She tried to hide the shock and dismay on her face. Her hair was hideous. "Put these on," Kapri was saying, laying out an outfit on Marah's bed before leaving the room. Marah struggled into the clothes her sister had chosen for her and looked again in the mirror. Hideous. She did somewhat like the red and purple feathers on her back, but that was about it. She dreaded going on this date with Choobo. Just thinking about it made her skin crawl. He barely even looked human! And he was so... goofy. How could she have accepted the offer? Oh yes, it was Kapri who'd answered for her. Funny, how Kapri always wanted- and seemed to get- what Marah also wanted. But when Marah didn't want something, Kapri was first in line to make sure that Marah got that thing she didn't desire. And it wasn't as if she could back down now. After all, Choobo was a general... lieutenant... oh whatever his new title was, it was important. If Marah were to refuse, it would be like a servant refusing a date with the emperor. Marah looked up from the mirror at the sound of footsteps and off-key whistling from outside her bedroom.
"Ahem," Choobo cleared his throat and knocked on the door.
"Coming," Marah squeaked. She gripped the edge of her vanity and stood stiffly, feeling a sickly dread at the pit of her stomach. 'Right foot, left foot, right foot...' she told herself, making her way to the door. Taking a very deep breath, Marah opened it. She could have vomited from the stench alone, radiating off of Choobo's green body. He was wearing a bow tie, which was wedged beneath his double chin. His small red goggles seemed to pop out and boggle at her. His ears twitched. He breathed heavily as he shifted from foot to foot. A green sweat drenched his forehead.
"You look very... NICE... this evening," he said, coiling his fingers slowly in front of his face.
Marah tried her best to smile, but it came out looking more like a frown than anything else. "You look nice too," she choked out, trying not to inhale the foul odor.
"Well, shall we be going then?" There was a hint of a chuckle in Choobo's voice.
Marah nodded in response and stepped stiffly in front of him. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Choobo peek inside her room and sniff. He shivered slightly, from what, Marah wasn't sure, but she tried not to think about it as they made their way down the corridor.
**************
The early morning was dark and damp. Blake sat thinking at the base of a large tree, while Hunter practiced ninja moves on a wide tree trunk.
"Hey, bro," Blake said, "take it easy. The sun has barely even risen yet. You can practice later."
Hunter said nothing, only swung his leg out and up, kicking the tree so hard that several wet leaves plummeted to the ground around him. He wanted to let out his built up anger. He had too much rage to know what to do with it.
Blake continued to talk as Hunter attacked the tree trunk with much force. "Calm down, bro. Hey, do you think I should start a fire? It's probably going to be cold today." He looked up at the sky. "Might even rain..." his voice trailed off as he waited for Hunter to answer.
After a moment: "Why bother making a fire then? If it's going to rain," Hunter grunted between jabs and kicks.
"True," Blake considered. He shivered. "Bro, I'm so friggen cold right now. I'm going to get some fire wood."
"You can't build a fire when the wood's wet," Hunter muttered under his breath as Blake headed off.
"What was that you said?" Blake asked turning back, a little irritated. Hunter just kept practicing. Blake shrugged and shoved his way into the thicker part of the forest.
Hunter stopped his practice after a while and sat down, panting. 'You can never be too prepared,' he assured himself. 'And that's what I am... prepared.'
**************
Marah and Choobo sat at a dimly lit table against a large window, looking out into space. Marah gazed wistfully out at the stars, wishing that she could be on any one of them rather than on Uncle's space fortress... on a date with this creature. They were waiting for their food to be brought. Choobo talked on and on, not seeming to realize that Marah wasn't listening. Marah barely noticed when he stopped speaking for her to respond. Looking quickly away from the window, she threw in a fast, "Oh, really... How fascinating," so that Choobo would continue, which he did.
A kelzack entered with their food. It placed the plates and drinks on the table, bowed, and left as swiftly as it had entered.
"Mmm. I'm starving," Choobo said before shoving his face into the food, which looked disgusting even when it wasn't smeared on his face. Marah gulped and looked down at her own plate. She tried to eat, but she just wasn't hungry... And the unappetizing noises coming from Choobo's side of the table didn't really help either. "So anyway..." Choobo began again, partially wiping his face off with a black cloth napkin. Marah pushed a chunk of food around on her plate with her fork, tuning out her date's uninteresting babble.
Marah was nibbling on her food and gazing out the window; Choobo was chattering foolishly and laughing at his own jokes, when Marah suddenly looked up. Choobo had just mentioned the Thunder Rangers.
"... like I was crazy or something. But I sure showed him. And those Thunder Rangers... Well, they won't see THAT one coming," Choobo was saying with his mouth half full.
"Won't see what coming?" Marah cut in.
Choobo stared at her for a moment, surprised that she had spoken out of turn. Then he realized that he had to answer her. "Oh, yes. The new org we just received. Of course."
"What is it that you're planning to do to the Thunder Rangers?" Marah asked a bit too hastily.
"Well, get rid of them of course! Haven't you been listening?" he laughed, as if Marah's supposed stupidity was cute. He figured that it was all just part of the act in dating.
A very small alarm went off inside Marah, in the farthest corner of her heart. "You don't mean to- to... KILL them, do you? Is that what you're saying?"
"Yes, very good... Marah." Choobo had never addressed her by name before. This verbal exploration was NOT to be tolerated by Marah, so she glared at him, making him sorry to ever have done it. "It would be best to get them out of the picture," he added, a little frightened.
"And that's what my uncle wants?"
Choobo did not respond right away to this. Marah eyed him suspiciously. "Well... ah... you know what? Heh heh..." he tried to laugh a little to lift her suspicions.
"No. What?"
"It's really quite funny actually..." He started to laugh nervously.
"Get on with it!" Marah said, slightly relishing in her under-lying power of authority over him, which she did not have over most anyone else on the ship. At least there was one enjoyable aspect of being in Choobo's company.
"Your ah... your sister actually came up with the idea. Heh heh... isn't that funny. And Master Lothor... heh heh... oh you'll really find this amusing-" he stopped to see if his laughter was helping at all. He coughed a bit, choking on his chuckles at the sight of Marah's tight-lipped stare. "He doesn't really know about it... yet," Choobo added. Now he was really nervous. Green sweat soaked his face and dripped down his chin.
"Do mean to tell me that Uncle doesn't KNOW about this plan?"
"YET!" Choobo screeched in fright, dropping his fork (not that he'd been using it). There was a silence between them as the fork hit the floor, clinking and clattering, rattling as it settled itself at Choobo's feet. "Yet," he said again breathlessly.
Marah took a deep breath. "And when will you tell him? I think it would be better for you to tell him before I do- For your sake, not mine."
"Oh yes, of course... of course. Tomorrow. Tomorrow I'll tell him. Heh?" He laughed as if it were a question, asking if everything was all right again. Marah's lips lifted ever so slightly at the corners. She really did love being in power for once. When in power, her more evil tendencies seemed to kick in.
They finished their meal and, at last, Marah made it to the sanctuary of her own bed chambers. She leaned against the inside of the door, marking the finality of the evening. She listened with relief as Choobo's clumsy shuffling footsteps faded away down the hall.
***************
By the time Blake returned to the clearing, Hunter had begun to practice his moves on the tree again. Upon seeing this, Blake flung the fire wood down in frustration and stepped rigidly over to his foster brother. "If anyone should be doing that, it should be me," he said in an angry but calm tone.
Hunter continued to practice as before, making no attempt to respond.
"You're the one that temporarily destroyed Lothor with that crystal! At least you have that LITTLE sense of revenge! I have NOTHING!" The last word echoed off into the depths of the forest. There was a faint rustling of birds taking off into flight at the disturbance.
"Oh, so I see you've been doing some thinking..." Hunter said coldly.
"I can't believe how SELFISH-" Blake swung his arms- " you're getting! What's come over you? Just because you're pissed off, doesn't mean that you get to take it all out on me! I'm tired of putting up with you like this! You're not the only one who was betrayed here! I'm in the same boat! The SAME EXACT ONE! It's time for you to acknowledge that!" He pointed his finger down towards the ground.
"Oh, so you think you deserve more than I do now, is that it? First wanting to turn to those Wind Rangers? And now this? What's come over ME? I should be asking you the same damn question!" Hunter stood still now, fists clenched tightly, a cold stare fixed on Blake, who returned it with equal venom. Before Blake could make a comeback, Hunter stormed off in the opposite direction, into the part of the forest that they hadn't yet explored.
"Oh, REAL SMART, BRO! Just run away from your problems! Coward! And to think that we are even related through adoption! How could I get stuck with someone so-" he stopped. He couldn't see Hunter anymore. He felt a hot serge of anger, mixed with a small bit of guilt and worry. 'Watch him get lost now. If Lothor's henchmen find him alone, he'll be in for it. Always has to be the hero.' Blake sat down and vainly began to build a fire. He wasn't going to go after Hunter, not this time.
****************
"You TOLD HER???" Kapri whispered harshly.
"No... I was just... what I meant to say is, your Highness..."
Kapri cocked her head to one side, hands on her hips, and tapped a foot in impatience. "I'm WAITING Choobo."
"We were just making ah... polite conversation. Yes. That's it."
"Oh I see," Kapri said with a deceptive smile, "you were simply making polite conversation with my sister-"
"Yes yes. Polite conversation," Choobo wrung his hands together anxiously.
"Ah..." Kapri said softly. Choobo stared at her, hope on his face. Maybe she wouldn't yell at him this time. How could she? They were discussing this secretly behind some barrels in a storage room in the dead of night. They could only speak just above a whisper. His hope faded as Kapri looked up at him with a ferocious electricity snapping in her pastel eyes. "A TOP SECRET MURDER SCHEME IS NOT POLITE CONVERSATION!!!!" she shrieked, emphasizing the beginning of each word, cutting it short with venom. She trembled with inherited evil rage. Choobo stood cowering before her. "You better fix this, Choobo, or I swear I WILL make sure that you get much worse than the Thunder Rangers. MUCH WORSE! Mark my words. Now get out of my face!"
As Choobo scurried away, Kapri thought to herself, 'He better convince Uncle that killing the Thunder Rangers is a good idea. Or else I'm sunk. And even if Uncle does agree, there'll still be Marah to deal with. If she tells Uncle ANYTHING, especially that I was involved in the plan, I'll get it for sure. And the fact that we hadn't planned on him knowing is bad enough. Well, no matter how things play out, Marah will have to go.' With a self-reassuring nod of the head, Kapri followed Choobo out of the storage room.
***************
Okay, so was that terrible? (please no flames) I must inform you all that I'm writing this while I'm sick, so please overlook any tiny, INSIGNIFICANT flaws in grammar, spelling, etc. The plot will get much more interesting... trust me. I've known everything that's going to happen even before I commited this story to paper (or virtual paper... computer screen... oh nevermind). So just keep reading and watch the story unfold! (that was cheesey, I know) Again, R&R please!!!
~muches~
ECHO
And now, read on... as the plot thickens.... (don don don) heh ok I'm done now...
****************
"Oh but do I really HAVE to?" Marah complained. She had been asked on a second date with Choobo after her first victory against Kapri, in which Marah had asked Choobo out before Kapri could. Marah had thought at the time that she wanted to go out with Choobo, but after the first date she realized her tragic mistake in judging his character. Unfortunately, he had asked her on another excursion, and since Kapri knew that the first date hadn't worked out, she had naturally volunteered Marah for another round. It was probably just revenge for not being the one to date him, Marah figured.
"You should feel honored. Choobo is very... high in stature," Kapri said with no hint of comfort whatsoever, knowing perfectly well how much Marah disliked Choobo. "Now take off your headdress so I can try and do SOMETHING with this hair of yours."
Marah pulled off her massive headdress and set it on the vanity. It took up almost the entire surface. Wincing, she braced herself as Kapri yanked out a tangle and started to pull chunks of Marah's hair in different directions. After nearly an hour, Kapri had finished working.
"You're just hopeless, you know that," Kapri sighed nastily. Marah let the comment roll off her back as she looked in the mirror. She tried to hide the shock and dismay on her face. Her hair was hideous. "Put these on," Kapri was saying, laying out an outfit on Marah's bed before leaving the room. Marah struggled into the clothes her sister had chosen for her and looked again in the mirror. Hideous. She did somewhat like the red and purple feathers on her back, but that was about it. She dreaded going on this date with Choobo. Just thinking about it made her skin crawl. He barely even looked human! And he was so... goofy. How could she have accepted the offer? Oh yes, it was Kapri who'd answered for her. Funny, how Kapri always wanted- and seemed to get- what Marah also wanted. But when Marah didn't want something, Kapri was first in line to make sure that Marah got that thing she didn't desire. And it wasn't as if she could back down now. After all, Choobo was a general... lieutenant... oh whatever his new title was, it was important. If Marah were to refuse, it would be like a servant refusing a date with the emperor. Marah looked up from the mirror at the sound of footsteps and off-key whistling from outside her bedroom.
"Ahem," Choobo cleared his throat and knocked on the door.
"Coming," Marah squeaked. She gripped the edge of her vanity and stood stiffly, feeling a sickly dread at the pit of her stomach. 'Right foot, left foot, right foot...' she told herself, making her way to the door. Taking a very deep breath, Marah opened it. She could have vomited from the stench alone, radiating off of Choobo's green body. He was wearing a bow tie, which was wedged beneath his double chin. His small red goggles seemed to pop out and boggle at her. His ears twitched. He breathed heavily as he shifted from foot to foot. A green sweat drenched his forehead.
"You look very... NICE... this evening," he said, coiling his fingers slowly in front of his face.
Marah tried her best to smile, but it came out looking more like a frown than anything else. "You look nice too," she choked out, trying not to inhale the foul odor.
"Well, shall we be going then?" There was a hint of a chuckle in Choobo's voice.
Marah nodded in response and stepped stiffly in front of him. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Choobo peek inside her room and sniff. He shivered slightly, from what, Marah wasn't sure, but she tried not to think about it as they made their way down the corridor.
**************
The early morning was dark and damp. Blake sat thinking at the base of a large tree, while Hunter practiced ninja moves on a wide tree trunk.
"Hey, bro," Blake said, "take it easy. The sun has barely even risen yet. You can practice later."
Hunter said nothing, only swung his leg out and up, kicking the tree so hard that several wet leaves plummeted to the ground around him. He wanted to let out his built up anger. He had too much rage to know what to do with it.
Blake continued to talk as Hunter attacked the tree trunk with much force. "Calm down, bro. Hey, do you think I should start a fire? It's probably going to be cold today." He looked up at the sky. "Might even rain..." his voice trailed off as he waited for Hunter to answer.
After a moment: "Why bother making a fire then? If it's going to rain," Hunter grunted between jabs and kicks.
"True," Blake considered. He shivered. "Bro, I'm so friggen cold right now. I'm going to get some fire wood."
"You can't build a fire when the wood's wet," Hunter muttered under his breath as Blake headed off.
"What was that you said?" Blake asked turning back, a little irritated. Hunter just kept practicing. Blake shrugged and shoved his way into the thicker part of the forest.
Hunter stopped his practice after a while and sat down, panting. 'You can never be too prepared,' he assured himself. 'And that's what I am... prepared.'
**************
Marah and Choobo sat at a dimly lit table against a large window, looking out into space. Marah gazed wistfully out at the stars, wishing that she could be on any one of them rather than on Uncle's space fortress... on a date with this creature. They were waiting for their food to be brought. Choobo talked on and on, not seeming to realize that Marah wasn't listening. Marah barely noticed when he stopped speaking for her to respond. Looking quickly away from the window, she threw in a fast, "Oh, really... How fascinating," so that Choobo would continue, which he did.
A kelzack entered with their food. It placed the plates and drinks on the table, bowed, and left as swiftly as it had entered.
"Mmm. I'm starving," Choobo said before shoving his face into the food, which looked disgusting even when it wasn't smeared on his face. Marah gulped and looked down at her own plate. She tried to eat, but she just wasn't hungry... And the unappetizing noises coming from Choobo's side of the table didn't really help either. "So anyway..." Choobo began again, partially wiping his face off with a black cloth napkin. Marah pushed a chunk of food around on her plate with her fork, tuning out her date's uninteresting babble.
Marah was nibbling on her food and gazing out the window; Choobo was chattering foolishly and laughing at his own jokes, when Marah suddenly looked up. Choobo had just mentioned the Thunder Rangers.
"... like I was crazy or something. But I sure showed him. And those Thunder Rangers... Well, they won't see THAT one coming," Choobo was saying with his mouth half full.
"Won't see what coming?" Marah cut in.
Choobo stared at her for a moment, surprised that she had spoken out of turn. Then he realized that he had to answer her. "Oh, yes. The new org we just received. Of course."
"What is it that you're planning to do to the Thunder Rangers?" Marah asked a bit too hastily.
"Well, get rid of them of course! Haven't you been listening?" he laughed, as if Marah's supposed stupidity was cute. He figured that it was all just part of the act in dating.
A very small alarm went off inside Marah, in the farthest corner of her heart. "You don't mean to- to... KILL them, do you? Is that what you're saying?"
"Yes, very good... Marah." Choobo had never addressed her by name before. This verbal exploration was NOT to be tolerated by Marah, so she glared at him, making him sorry to ever have done it. "It would be best to get them out of the picture," he added, a little frightened.
"And that's what my uncle wants?"
Choobo did not respond right away to this. Marah eyed him suspiciously. "Well... ah... you know what? Heh heh..." he tried to laugh a little to lift her suspicions.
"No. What?"
"It's really quite funny actually..." He started to laugh nervously.
"Get on with it!" Marah said, slightly relishing in her under-lying power of authority over him, which she did not have over most anyone else on the ship. At least there was one enjoyable aspect of being in Choobo's company.
"Your ah... your sister actually came up with the idea. Heh heh... isn't that funny. And Master Lothor... heh heh... oh you'll really find this amusing-" he stopped to see if his laughter was helping at all. He coughed a bit, choking on his chuckles at the sight of Marah's tight-lipped stare. "He doesn't really know about it... yet," Choobo added. Now he was really nervous. Green sweat soaked his face and dripped down his chin.
"Do mean to tell me that Uncle doesn't KNOW about this plan?"
"YET!" Choobo screeched in fright, dropping his fork (not that he'd been using it). There was a silence between them as the fork hit the floor, clinking and clattering, rattling as it settled itself at Choobo's feet. "Yet," he said again breathlessly.
Marah took a deep breath. "And when will you tell him? I think it would be better for you to tell him before I do- For your sake, not mine."
"Oh yes, of course... of course. Tomorrow. Tomorrow I'll tell him. Heh?" He laughed as if it were a question, asking if everything was all right again. Marah's lips lifted ever so slightly at the corners. She really did love being in power for once. When in power, her more evil tendencies seemed to kick in.
They finished their meal and, at last, Marah made it to the sanctuary of her own bed chambers. She leaned against the inside of the door, marking the finality of the evening. She listened with relief as Choobo's clumsy shuffling footsteps faded away down the hall.
***************
By the time Blake returned to the clearing, Hunter had begun to practice his moves on the tree again. Upon seeing this, Blake flung the fire wood down in frustration and stepped rigidly over to his foster brother. "If anyone should be doing that, it should be me," he said in an angry but calm tone.
Hunter continued to practice as before, making no attempt to respond.
"You're the one that temporarily destroyed Lothor with that crystal! At least you have that LITTLE sense of revenge! I have NOTHING!" The last word echoed off into the depths of the forest. There was a faint rustling of birds taking off into flight at the disturbance.
"Oh, so I see you've been doing some thinking..." Hunter said coldly.
"I can't believe how SELFISH-" Blake swung his arms- " you're getting! What's come over you? Just because you're pissed off, doesn't mean that you get to take it all out on me! I'm tired of putting up with you like this! You're not the only one who was betrayed here! I'm in the same boat! The SAME EXACT ONE! It's time for you to acknowledge that!" He pointed his finger down towards the ground.
"Oh, so you think you deserve more than I do now, is that it? First wanting to turn to those Wind Rangers? And now this? What's come over ME? I should be asking you the same damn question!" Hunter stood still now, fists clenched tightly, a cold stare fixed on Blake, who returned it with equal venom. Before Blake could make a comeback, Hunter stormed off in the opposite direction, into the part of the forest that they hadn't yet explored.
"Oh, REAL SMART, BRO! Just run away from your problems! Coward! And to think that we are even related through adoption! How could I get stuck with someone so-" he stopped. He couldn't see Hunter anymore. He felt a hot serge of anger, mixed with a small bit of guilt and worry. 'Watch him get lost now. If Lothor's henchmen find him alone, he'll be in for it. Always has to be the hero.' Blake sat down and vainly began to build a fire. He wasn't going to go after Hunter, not this time.
****************
"You TOLD HER???" Kapri whispered harshly.
"No... I was just... what I meant to say is, your Highness..."
Kapri cocked her head to one side, hands on her hips, and tapped a foot in impatience. "I'm WAITING Choobo."
"We were just making ah... polite conversation. Yes. That's it."
"Oh I see," Kapri said with a deceptive smile, "you were simply making polite conversation with my sister-"
"Yes yes. Polite conversation," Choobo wrung his hands together anxiously.
"Ah..." Kapri said softly. Choobo stared at her, hope on his face. Maybe she wouldn't yell at him this time. How could she? They were discussing this secretly behind some barrels in a storage room in the dead of night. They could only speak just above a whisper. His hope faded as Kapri looked up at him with a ferocious electricity snapping in her pastel eyes. "A TOP SECRET MURDER SCHEME IS NOT POLITE CONVERSATION!!!!" she shrieked, emphasizing the beginning of each word, cutting it short with venom. She trembled with inherited evil rage. Choobo stood cowering before her. "You better fix this, Choobo, or I swear I WILL make sure that you get much worse than the Thunder Rangers. MUCH WORSE! Mark my words. Now get out of my face!"
As Choobo scurried away, Kapri thought to herself, 'He better convince Uncle that killing the Thunder Rangers is a good idea. Or else I'm sunk. And even if Uncle does agree, there'll still be Marah to deal with. If she tells Uncle ANYTHING, especially that I was involved in the plan, I'll get it for sure. And the fact that we hadn't planned on him knowing is bad enough. Well, no matter how things play out, Marah will have to go.' With a self-reassuring nod of the head, Kapri followed Choobo out of the storage room.
***************
Okay, so was that terrible? (please no flames) I must inform you all that I'm writing this while I'm sick, so please overlook any tiny, INSIGNIFICANT flaws in grammar, spelling, etc. The plot will get much more interesting... trust me. I've known everything that's going to happen even before I commited this story to paper (or virtual paper... computer screen... oh nevermind). So just keep reading and watch the story unfold! (that was cheesey, I know) Again, R&R please!!!
~muches~
ECHO
