Headquarters, Sector 0
Metro City, Canada
May 9th, 2015
11:06 AM
"Rachel Parker"
I had no idea how much of an effect kissing Riley would've had on him. I just hope I didn't wait too long. Not including when I kissed him thinking that he was dead and I'd never see him again, the kiss I gave him last night was our first real kiss that meant something.
When Riley gets an idea, sometimes he has to focus on that idea and nothing else otherwise he'll forget it. This appeared to be one of those times, because he hadn't said a word to me since this morning.
As soon as we got to Headquarters, Riley apologized to Silver and Jenna who immediately had him take his shirt off so she could examine him.
"This is probably going to hurt." said Jenna.
She tried prodding the area around the massive bruise on his chest as gently as she could, but Riley still cringed from the pain.
"I think you have a fractured rib," she said, "Have Rachel take you to the hospital-"
"No, no, no," he said, "I'll go a little later, first I want to tell Silver about this idea I had. Otherwise I might forget it."
Riley grabbed his discarded shirt and threw it back on, wincing from the pain. I followed behind him as he approached Silver, who was hard at work rebuilding one of the many damaged components of the Mainframe.
"Do you have any leads on the Renegade?" he asked.
"None whatsoever," said Silver, "But I do remember noticing a few noteworthy things when I saw him. As soon as this part of the Mainframe is up and running again, I'll be able to compare the potential energy levels of your codecs against those of the Renegade."
"There was a moment," said Riley, "When we first met the Renegade. He pulled out his weapon and was about to attack us, but then he stopped as if he changed his mind."
"I don't see how that's relevant." said Silver.
"The Renegade is definitely a person," said Riley, "The way he acts and the way he fights; it's almost like he's what we would be if we didn't have moral compasses."
Silver took in Riley's words and seemed to lull them around in his head a bit.
"That's a very astute observation." said Silver.
"I'll take him to the hospital," I said, "Whether he likes it or not."
Riley didn't put up a fight this time. It was clear that he had his confidence back and then some. Once we were in the waiting room, I started to feel anxious. Not just because I don't like waiting, but also because there was a possibility that Riley might be seriously hurt.
I placed my head on his lap, and he instinctively started running his hand gently through my hair.
"You're not worried?" I asked.
"Yesterday I might've been," he said, "But now I'm willing to accept that even if I'm hurt, I can still find a way to be helpful."
"All this just because I kissed you?"
"Yeah," he said, "It wasn't the kiss itself, per say, but more the fact that letting the team down and running out into the storm, didn't change the way you feel about me."
"The same thing can be said about Marcus, Oz and Chloe," I said, "Just don't expect kisses from any of them."
"I won't." he chuckled.
Less than an hour later, Riley got called in. I was allowed to come in with him because they all thought I was his girlfriend. It's understandable, since I had my head on his lap. I don't dislike the idea of that, but I don't think we're technically a couple yet.
It didn't take the doctor long to determine that Riley had a fractured rib. Luckily, the ribs were still properly aligned and should heal on their own. So they gave him a prescription for a painkiller and sent him on his way.
"Aaron "Trojan" Kingsley"
"Whoever this purple ranger is, he would make a powerful addition to our armies." I said, as I reviewed the footage we managed to get of his battle with the rangers.
"Are we sure he's even a person?" asked Dr. Molex, "Maybe it's some sort of robot or something?"
"If it was a robot," I said, "I could make a virus out of it."
"He's human," said General Berg, "He must be human, only humans can use the codecs."
"In my experience," I said, "Every human has a weak point; a certain trait that can be used to manipulate them."
"What was yours, Milord?" asked Dr. Molex.
"Pride," I said, "Mixed with a bit of greed. That's why I fell for the trap the CDI had set for me."
"So you're saying that all you have to do is figure out what the purple ranger's weak point is?" asked General Berg.
"Precisely," I said, "If I can convince him that I can give him the thing he wants more than anything else, he should become putty in my hands."
"But what is it that he wants?" asked Phisher.
"My first guess would be power," I said, "He wants to become stronger so that no one can stand in his way."
"Rachel Parker"
We returned to Headquarters after Riley was released from the hospital. But before that, I took him to a pharmacy so he could fill the prescription for painkillers.
"You're back," said Jenna, "What did the doctor say?"
"That Riley has a fractured rib." I said.
"They didn't ask how it happened, did they?" said Silver.
"No, they did." said Riley.
"And what did you tell them?" asked Silver, "Nothing about the rangers, I hope."
"I told them that I let my guard down." said Riley.
"Why are you two holding hands?" asked Chloe.
I felt my heart skip a beat. I had no idea that the others were in Headquarters. I also had no idea why I suddenly felt an urge to keep the fact that I kissed Riley a secret. Earlier, I wasn't ready for other people to know because I wasn't even sure if I really loved Riley any differently than a brother. But as time went on, I gradually came to realize that I would miserable if all Riley would ever be to me was a brother.
Over the years, Chloe and I have developed a way of communicating without really having to speak. It involves eye movement and subtle body language. So I told her without making it seem like I was telling her, that I kissed Riley.
"Ohhh." said Chloe.
"What ohhh? Is it a good ohhh or a bad ohhh?" asked Oz.
"If it was a bad ohhh, it would've been an awww." said Marcus.
"I thought awww was for cute things." said Oz.
"Sometimes it's also for really touching things or sad things." said Chloe.
"She's holding my hand because the painkiller the doctor gave me made me dizzy," said Riley, "Also because she kissed me last night."
There. He said it. Nobody laughed. It felt perfectly normal. All this time I guess I had been worried for nothing.
"On the lips?" asked Oz, "Or somewhere more fun?"
"Actually I think the lips are the most fun place." said Marcus.
"Ah, young grasshopper, there is so much I could teach you." said Oz.
"Could we get back to the elephant in the room?" asked Riley, "How about this... Anyone who has a problem with Rachel and I being a bit more than just friends, speak now or forever hold your peace."
Marcus raised his hand.
"Marcus?" asked Riley.
"I've got something to say," he said, "It's about damn time!"
Everyone laughed for a while, even Jenna and Silver. When the laughter subsided, Silver took the floor, eager to change the subject back to the reason he must've called everyone to Headquarters.
"I think I might know why the Renegade is stronger than you." he said.
We all stared at him. There was complete silence.
"His codec is larger than yours." said Silver.
"So?" asked Oz.
"Maybe you'll understand better if I give you a bit of back story," said Silver, "The codecs started out as a single object. I like to think of it as a boulder."
As he spoke, Jenna decided to illustrate what he was saying on the large whiteboard she had brought in for us to use. She made sure to use different coloured markers where needed.
"The boulder is what I call the Master Codec," said Silver, "It's basically just a large cluster of digital energy."
"I don't know why, but at some point, the Master Codec shattered, causing several smaller pieces to break away from it. Most of the smaller fragments just disintegrated and were absorbed back into Cyberspace," said Silver, "But the larger pieces somehow found their way into our world."
Jenna stopped drawing when she saw that we all seemed to understand.
"Stephen only found four of these pieces," she said, "He had no way of knowing how many more there could be."
"At the time I had I no idea that they were even digital," said Silver, "At first I thought that maybe they were some sort of rare mineral in the form of a crystal."
"When he got back home, the first thing he did was show them to me," said Jenna, "Because he knew that together, we might discover what they really were."
"But the research was put on hold when the CDI called and asked for my help in banishing Aaron Kingsley," said Silver, "It wasn't until after Aaron became Trojan that I started experimenting on the codecs."
"After months of testing, research and experimentation, I finally learned that the codecs were literally pure digital energy in the form of crystals," said Silver, "The tests that I performed on the codecs indicated that they had the potential to provide massive amounts of power and that they would never run out of power because the Master Codec provides them with an endless supply of energy."
"My tests also revealed that the size of each codec is directly proportionate to how much power it can generate," continued Silver, "However, the larger the codec, the higher the possibility that it might start generating more power than it can handle. And if a codec becomes overloaded, not only would it be destroyed, but it would also go out with a bang."
Jenna started drawing again, this time she scribbled down a complex mathematical equation that if I had to guess, was a summary of what Silver had just said.
"So, to counter this, I came up with several fail safes," said Silver, "The first was the Digitizers, which monitor the energy levels of the codecs. The second is that I designed the Digitizers so that they need to have a codec inserted into them as a power source, which significantly decreases the chances of overloading."
"The last fail safe I implemented was that I used lasers to trim the codecs down to a smaller size, making sure that all four of them were exactly the same size and shape afterwards." said Silver.
He stopped to let us take in all this new information. Only Riley seemed to have understood absolutely everything. Of course that's to be expected. As long as Riley understands, he can try explaining it in a different or simplified way to whoever didn't understand.
"So," said Riley, "Because the Renegade's codec is bigger than ours, it can generate more power than ours, which results in him being stronger than us in ranger form."
"Exactly," said Silver, "I never found a purple codec, which means I had no way of cutting it down to be the same size as yours."
"What about my codec?" asked Chloe.
"I don't have all the answers," said Silver, "I didn't create the codecs, all I did was figure out how to safely utilize them."
"Our theory is that the codecs have swarm intelligence," said Jenna, "They seem to have a way of communicating with one another and with their environment. So, maybe the other codecs told the Master Codec to break off another piece of itself and send it to our world."
"The codecs are alive?" asked Oz.
"No," said Jenna, "But neither is a computer, yet all the different components still communicate with each other to do what's required of them."
"Which might be how you were able to summon a codec of your very own," said Silver, "One that when it appeared in our world was already the same size and shape as the others."
"How much bigger is the Renegade's codec?" I asked.
"Anywhere between 10% and 20%," said Silver, "It's not a lot, but it's enough."
"So what do we do?" asked Marcus, "How do we stop him if he's stronger than us?"
"Your attacks can still hurt him," said Jenna, "He's not invincible."
"You might have an easier time if you use this," said Silver, "I call it the Extractor."
He tossed something that resembled a gun at Riley, who caught it, and turned it around in his hands curiously.
"Next time the Renegade shows up, point that at him and pull the trigger," said Silver, "It will temporarily drain some of the power that his codec is generating."
"And give us a chance to fight back." said Riley.
"That's all I can afford to give you at the moment," said Silver, "Jenna and I have to focus on rebuilding Headquarters."
"After that I'm heading home so I can start building my copy of the Mainframe." said Jenna.
"Lastly," said Silver, "Is a point that Riley came up with recently."
Everyone looked at Riley, expecting him to be the one to say something.
"He noticed that one of the main differences between you and the Renegade is the choices that you make," said Silver, "Which just proves that the Renegade is indeed human."
"If you can find out who the Renegade is," said Jenna, "Then there might be a way to deal with him that doesn't involve violence."
"That's all for now," said Silver, "Be careful out there."
"Riley Bishop"
That night, I was lying in bed, thinking about everything that had happened lately. I tried to think of who the Renegade might be and what would drive him to do the things he plans to do. I thought about the Extractor that Silver gave me, and how we might try to use it on the Renegade. Then I thought about Rachel. All the things I like about her. All the stupid games we used to play as kids. And the kiss; I was trying to think about as many different things as possible, otherwise I'd be reminded of the pain in my chest.
I wasn't really sleeping, but I wasn't really awake either. I was somewhere in between, and didn't snap out of it until I heard my bedroom window open. I could tell that someone had opened it from the outside and crawled in through it.
"What are you doing, Rach?" I asked.
I knew it was her because nobody else can enter my room from that window. Rachel still uses the door for the most part, but every now and then she'll sneak in through my window.
"I thought I'd spend the night here." she said.
"It's already passed curfew," I said, "I think you're a little late for the party."
"Well, I had to wait for my Dad to go to bed." said Rachel.
"Are you wearing a bathrobe?"
"Yeah, it was a bit chilly out there," she said, "Also I had to cover up."
"Cover up what?"
She untied the belt of the bathrobe and proceeded to take it off. I reached over and turned on the lamp on my bedside table. When I looked back at Rachel, I felt my jaw drop a little; she was in her underwear! She also seemed to be fighting the urge to cover herself back up.
"Where are your clothes!?" I gasped.
"I have them right here in this bag."
"Then why aren't you wearing them?"
"I'm confused," said Rachel, "I thought you'd prefer me like this."
"I don't hate it," I said, "I just wasn't expecting it."
"That was kind of the point," she said, "Now move over."
She crawled under the covers with me. She was nice and warm and I could smell the vanilla.
"Rachel Parker"
"Listen Rach," said Riley, "You don't have to do this."
"What are you talking about?" I asked.
"I can see it all over you that you're uncomfortable," he said, "Sometime in the near future sure, I'd love to take that next big step in our relationship. But I don't want you to take it if you're not ready yet."
"It's just that..." I sighed, "We've been stuck in the same place for years and I can't figure out why I still don't feel ready to move past it."
"Maybe you should focus more on getting ready and less time on figuring out why you aren't ready yet," he said, "Personally, I think I'm ready. But I don't want to move on without you."
"You really don't mind waiting?" I asked.
"Not at all," he said, "Especially not after what I just saw. The memory of you in your underwear is enough to last me a long time."
"You're disgusting!" I snapped, punching him lightly in the chest.
"Ugh!" he grunted, "That came out wrong..."
"Oh god! I'm sorry, I forgot!" I shrieked.
"Don't worry about it," he wheezed, "But what I meant to say is that I know it can't have been easy for you to come over here, wearing pretty much nothing. Even if you're not ready to take the next step yet, it means a lot that you tried."
"How about we compromise?" I asked, "For now, we'll each take half a step and see how it goes. Then maybe in a few weeks we'll try to take the other half of the step."
"So what kind of things are doing now that we moved forward a little bet?"
"More holding hands, more cuddling and more of this..."
I rolled on top of him and leaned in. Riley wasn't caught off guard this time and leaned in with me. The kiss was nice and made me feel all tingly. It lasted a bit longer than the last one, but mostly because neither of us knew when it would be appropriate to break apart. It was me that broke it off though went I felt something poke me.
"Um, Riley... Is that your?"
"Yeah..." he groaned.
I rolled off him and cracked up. I don't know why I found it so funny. Maybe because it was new territory for us, or maybe because that was the closest we had ever come to... You know... Having sex.
"I guess I should be taking it as a compliment." I said while laughing hysterically.
"If you had more clothes on it might've taken longer." said Riley.
"Hey, no judgement." I said, still laughing hysterically.
"Aaron "Trojan" Kingsley"
I was able to track down this purple ranger rather easily because he seems to stay in ranger form most of the time. Whenever he is transformed, I can observe his every move because he basically becomes a walking ball of digital energy.
I needed to proceed with caution. Creating a hologram of myself in the real world is a very complicated and delicate process. If it appears in the wrong place at the wrong time, all the effort I put into creating it will be wasted, and I would have to wait for quite a while until I could attempt to do it again. But it seems that I finally had my chance...
Making a hologram is similar to a live television broadcast. All I do is stand on a platform that is surrounded by many cameras. Those cameras record my actions and then the video they record is played back as a hologram in the real world. While I stand on the platform, I am able to hear and see what the person in the real world is saying, which is how I am able to make the hologram seem so realistic that many people think that I am actually standing before them.
The purple ranger was right where I wanted him, so I pulled the lever and stood on the platform. Seconds later, a hologram of myself appeared in front of the purple ranger.
"Greetings, stranger," I said, "Allow me to introduce myself."
"You're Trojan, right?" he asked.
"Yes, that's correct," I said, a little taken aback, "How did you know?"
"Because only someone who can't talk to me in person would send a hologram instead," said the Renegade, "I suppose you also expected me to be impressed?"
"I will let your ignorance go unpunished," I said, "Because you are not yet under my command."
"Nor will I ever be."
"You might want to reconsider," I said, "Your powers come from that codec. It has quite a bit of power contained within it indeed, but it doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of the amount of power I can offer you."
"I'm listening." said the Renegade.
"You are a human," I said, "Normally I don't induct humans into my inner circle because I have no way of controlling them. But I think I would make an exception for you. We could form a partnership based on trust."
"Go on..." said the Renegade.
"I would be trusting you to obey my commands, while you would be trusting me to provide you with as much power as you desire," I said, "As long as both of us fulfill our respective ends of the agreement, it's a win-win scenario."
"What kinds of things would expect me to do?" asked the Renegade.
"Wreak havoc on Metro City and spread fear throughout its citizens," I said, "And of course, destroy the Power Rangers."
"That's what I already intend to do."
"Exactly," I said, "But if you join forces with me, you'll get rewarded for doing it."
"I do want to become more powerful."
"Wonderful," I said, holding out my hand, "So do we have a deal?"
"I've got a better deal," said the Renegade, "You give me all that power right now, and I just might let you live long enough to see me conquer this city and squash the rangers like the bugs they are!"
"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO ME LIKE THAT!?"
"I don't take orders from anyone," said the Renegade, "Spread the word."
"What a pity," I said, "You could've been a powerful ally."
"Coulda woulda shoulda." said the Renegade.
I ended the transmission and the hologram vanished. I stepped off the platform and stormed over to the main chamber.
"Dr. Molex!" I snapped, "Turn on your machine!"
"Is it time to make another virus, Milord?" he asked, scurrying over to his laboratory.
"Yes," I said, "But this time we're sending it after the purple ranger! He needs to be punished for his insolence!"
"Might I suggest that we use these two strains?" asked Dr. Molex.
"I like the way you think," I said, "But let's save those two to use on the rangers. I'm going to make a brand new strand right now. A strand that is specifically designed to destroy the purple ranger!"
The purple ranger might think he scared me away, but he'd be wrong. I'm not afraid of his threats because the only way he could follow through on them is if he became digital and entered Cyberspace. But even if he did that, it would take him much longer than it took me to become powerful enough to even stand a chance against me. Besides, he rejected my proposal and showed me no respect. For that, he deserves to be destroyed.
The virus I'm creating is designed to show no mercy and be stronger than any other virus I've created so far. I opted to create this one from scratch so that I wouldn't waste some of my best strands on the purple ranger. He doesn't deserve them.
Once the strands were created, I handed them to Molex and then sat down on my throne so that I could watch the virus destroy the purple ranger. It would be like a live sporting event. If only I could make popcorn...
Molex didn't waste any time producing the virus. It was perfect, I could tell just based on the quick glance I got of it. I decided to add insult to injury and use an electric flyswatter to make the virus so that it could squash the purple ranger like a bug.
I would use the electric flyswatter as the portal into the real world, which meant that when the virus emerged there, it would take on various properties and abilities of the object I made its portal out of.
The purple ranger was still in the same area as he was when I contacted him. A store nearby sold electric flyswatters along with many other things, which meant it would be very easy to make the virus appear in the same vicinity.
The battle began very quickly. It seemed that the purple ranger was somehow able to sense, or maybe even predict where the virus would emerge before it even happened. But I was nevertheless still confident that it would succeed in destroying the purple ranger.
"Let me guess," said the Renegade, "Trojan sends his regards?"
"You have incurred the wrath of my master!" snarled the virus, "I will eradicate you!"
"Is this the part where I'm supposed to cower in fear?" asked the Renegade.
The virus charged at the purple ranger, its razor sharp claws poised to carve him into pieces. I watched with baited breath eagerly awaiting the death of the purple ranger, but it didn't come. At the last second, he somehow managed to dodge the attack.
"You missed me," said the Renegade, "Is that really the best you can do?"
The virus' tail had a large paddle shape at the tip which it proceeded to activate, causing it to become electrocuted. It jabbed and swiped at the purple ranger, who just kept dodging the attacks.
"So that's your special talent is it?" asked the Renegade.
The purple ranger summoned his weapon, which was a majestic scythe. The virus swung its tail yet again while the purple ranger seemed distracted. There was a blur, followed by the sound of a scream. It didn't sound like the scream of human... I looked back at the screen again and saw that the purple ranger had used his scythe to cut off the virus' tail! Then the purple ranger grabbed the severed tail and swung it around over his head before slamming the virus over the head with it. The virus was still stunned, so the purple ranger leapt high into the air and as he came down he drove the sharp end of his scythe into the virus' head.
"NO!" I screamed.
The purple ranger somehow found the security camera that I had hacked into in order to watch the fight. He looked right into it as if he meant to look right at me.
"Did you honestly think that monster was a match for me?" he said, "Next time why don't you fight me like a man instead of a coward?"
And with that, he sheathed his weapon and teleported away.
"CURSE YOU, PURPLE RANGER!" I exploded.