Author's notes: Ever since I decided to write this section as sort of a big space opera, I've run into a problem: I want to write about space-related Power Rangers things and foreshadow what they'll face in the future, but I didn't really watch those seasons. Like a lot of people my age, I sort of petered off around Turbo. The movie and the new season was a let-down, I was getting older… So, that means I've been doing research. Some of what I'm writing is made up, but some of it is culled from watching random episodes and doing wiki research. Essentially, the point I'm trying to make this this story is that the Rangers, in their adventures, are poking various things with very sharp sticks, and they're eventually going to bring all that back to Earth with them.
Thanks to all my wonderful reviewers: Ghostwriter (Don't worry… I think my stories lately have essentially been "How Goldar got his groove back"), McQuirk (They die! Mwahahahah!), TheKnight-2000 (My Tommy is much more likeable than the actor as well. Lol), Son of Whitebeard (I wouldn't call it as much a "partnership" as I would call it vile loathing), bleedredstars (I tried to keep the Masked Rider stuff mostly based on the Power Rangers episodes he appeared in, and only did research into his power set for the end. And I made up a lot of the stuff. I never actually watched the show.), brankel1, Guest (Zordon's name is kind of dangerous. They probably wouldn't want to gain too much unwanted attention), and GothamPowerKaiju (Gasket was a completely last minute addition. I really had no idea who would fight Dex, but I liked the idea of two down-on-their-luck princes fighting in the end).
Brighter Paths
Chapter 9: De-tox
Goldar fumed. But he was careful not to show just how angry has.
Let that little shit Elgar think he'd broken him.
"You know," Elgar said, "you're a primo chump, is what you are."
Elgar remained on the other side of the transparent wall. Goldar had seen this material before. It was said to be unbreakable, but if you hit it with enough force right in the middle, the entire structure of the wall could burst. He'd get a little shredded, but that's why he wore armor. Of course, he'd have to get out of his bonds first. He was working on that.
"I mean, look at you! Last I heard you sold ol' Rita out to Lord Zedd, and now you're loyal to him? Loyal enough to take torture just to hide information that's going to come out anyway?" Elgar gave a sharp laugh. "And then there's Scorpina. She's never given a shit about you anyway."
Goldar made his voice sound a bit weaker than it really was. "And that's what you'd call a chump?"
"Damn straight!" Elgar said. "Hell, you're not even blood related to any of 'em. What are you going to get out of any of this? Rita… Scorpina… Zedd… they don't owe you a thing. Why bother with all this? Why bother serving them?"
Elgar's physical torture was sadistic, if unimaginative, but his psychological torture was so painfully transparent that Goldar wondered if he'd just finished reading Interrogation Made Easy or something. It confirmed what Goldar had suspected: while Divatox and her crew had a lot of power, they had almost zero experience. As in, they didn't know what the hell they were doing.
All the more reason not to have been captured, he berated himself. He'd been on the neutral planet after intercepting Zordon's communications with Prince Dex. He'd come across Dex just as he was being murdered by this psycho… who, despite being way too happy to kill anyone, had the presence of mind to just throw a slave teleport disc at Goldar. Next thing he knew, he'd been trussed up in this dungeon for interrogation.
It was nerves, Goldar decided. He'd gotten sloppy in the Earth campaign, where his opponents telegraphed their movements and played fair. He'd have to do better if he ever wanted to show his face before Lord Zedd again. Which, despite the fact that Elgar made a few good points, was something he actually wanted to do.
"What about you?" Goldar said. "Divatox can't be the best job out there."
"She's my aunt, she got me this job," Elgar said, rolling his eyes.
"And she's your only family, right?" Goldar said, knowing how extensive the space pirate family really was. "Word is she was disowned by her father, and she's got the smallest fleet in your whole family. Oh, did I say fleet? I meant ship. One ship." Goldar grinned. "Maybe that's it. You're both outcasts. I may not have family connections, but at least my connections have real power."
Elgar's smile, for he was never not smiling, took on a more menacing air. "That's real funny, Goldilocks. But I've got something you don't."
"What's that?"
Goldar knew as soon as he said it that he'd just walked into it. Elgar gleefully set about the controls, the torture equipment whirred to life, and Goldar promised himself he wouldn't pass out this time.
Kimberly and Jason were casually sitting against the wall, the remains of the bomb littering the middle of the floor. They'd quickly and quietly defused the bomb with their morphers, and had torn it apart to hide their methods. Elgar had already looked in on them, but had not started any new phase of torment. Presumably, someone else had his attention, and they could still occasionally hear the roars of their unfortunate neighbor.
Kimberly held a scorched bit of metal from the bomb that could make marks on the metal floor, and she was painstakingly using it to transcribe the dots and dashes she was feeling from the tiny buzzes in her communicator. This they shielded with Jason's large frame as he quietly translated the Morse code.
"I've got to learn this," Kimberly said quietly after a long bit of code. It was exhausting to keep up with, but they needed to do some planning with their fellow Rangers before they got there with their borrowed ship, and they couldn't twig Divatox as to what they were doing. They still didn't entirely know they were being watched.
"It's not that hard," Jason said, quickly writing out the translation. They would erase it before translating the next bit. "It's not like learning a new language or anything: just letter replacement."
He started buzzing in the response with his own communicator, giving Kimberly time to erase the marks and then rest a bit.
She'd need the rest. Because they were going to take down the ship, and hopefully Divatox and the rest with it.
It was a daring plan, and also a dangerous one. Billy had looked up what he could about Divatox's ship, and Kimberly knew scraps from her research, but there were far too many unpredictable and unknown variables for her to be completely comfortable with the plan. They knew a way to smash out now, thanks to Billy's research, but then they'd have to make their way to the engine room to start the self-destruct sequence, and then they'd have to make sure to load the slaves onto the Edenoi ship, all the while fighting Divatox and whoever she had fighting for her. They'd have to make sure she didn't try to engage a ship to ship battle… or kill any of them. And Elgar showed no problem with killing.
Kimberly laid her head back and forced herself to breathe slowly. It was a reckless plan, something that was becoming more common with Tommy in charge. Jason was frowning. She knew he was thinking the same thing.
"If it's worth anything," Jason said quietly, having finished his message to the others, "while this isn't ideal, I'm glad we could spend some time together before I left. You know… if we make it out of this."
Kimberly smiled. "Remember… remember that car ride? In Billy's car?"
It had been right after the Command Center had been destroyed, by Tommy, as they would find out later. The others had stayed at the Command Center and, unable to teleport, Jason and Kimberly had taken Billy's flying car to get supplies and make parental alibis. Kimberly remembered breaking down, needing Jason to comfort her. She'd been so scared that someone had destroyed their one safe haven. She wondered at her own naivety at the time, thinking anywhere was actually safe. Thinking they would always remain whole, that they could win at the end of the day and everything would return to normal.
That was before falling in love with Tommy. Before suffering each and every battle as they were attacked on the most personal levels possible. Before becoming evil herself.
"You've changed since that time," Jason broke into her thoughts, seeming to echo them. He must have seen the pained look in her eyes, because he chuckled. "I mean, we've all changed, of course. But you… you were always strong, but you've gotten so much stronger." He grinned. "I don't think you're worried about helmet hair anymore."
Kimberly rolled her eyes. "Do NOT talk about hair right now. I think not having a mirror right now is a mercy." She ran a hand through her hair, wincing at the knot of hair she felt in the back.
Jason smiled. "You know what I mean. I… I'm glad Tommy made the decision he made."
He put an arm around her shoulder, and she leaned in. Their planning was done. They had to wait for the signal. In the meantime, they could rest.
Divatox peered out of her periscope. It was an unnecessary affectation. Yes, her ship was submersible under water as well as space-worthy, as was the way of the space pirates, but a multitude of sensors mounted everywhere on the ship allowed her to see anywhere. All she really needed was a viewscreen, and indeed she had one so the rest of her crew could see.
But periscopes were cool. They added a certain gravitas to the bridge. So she used a periscope.
"That ship… I'll be damned," Divatox said under her breath as she regarded Count Dregon's ship. "I really thought the bastard Dregon was dead. But… he is. Isn't he?"
"We didn't see a body," Rygog commented. "But if Count Dregon was alive, would that machine brat have wormed his way into that planet? Would the Edenoi scum that Elgar killed still have been alive?"
"Fair points, and the ship is not necessarily the man," Divatox said. "So either dear Prince Dex is not actually dead, which is possible, given Elgar's track record, and the boy has finally decided to grow a pair… or we've got some heroes planning a daring rescue. Either way, let's talk. Open a channel."
Divatox put away the periscope and addressed the viewscreen, which was currently filled with two young people who looked as out of place on the ship as the two in the holding cell looked on that planet. They were very young and obvious uncomfortable with space travel. But they had power, and that certainly interested Divatox. She grinned toothily.
"If you're looking for your friends," she said, "you'll be sorely disappointed. I've already had them killed. So, your choices are either to run along your merry way, or open fire in a foolhardy attempt at revenge. Either way…" her grin broadened, "I get to have fun."
The boy with long hair crossed his arms. "Say you're right. Say you've killed them. Why don't you then just blow us out of the sky? Or kill us and take our ship? Or take us for slaves? You're a pirate, after all."
Divatox regarded the two. The boy who had spoken was standing upright, seeming to stare down the viewscreen. An obvious leader, though he didn't quite have the presence to pull off the intimidation he was attempting. His companion, a boy with dark skin and curly hair, was leaning against a chair, chewing on something and smirking.
They were after something. There was a key to this mystery, and she was going to find it out.
"Why were you meeting with Prince Dex?" she said, trying to go for the direct approach.
The chewing boy laughed. "Oh, so they are still alive."
Divatox frowned.
"Obviously," the first boy said. "If you're after information, you're not going to kill the people who have it. You can't get information from a corpse… though your boy Elgar apparently doesn't know that."
Divatox regained her humor. "My condolences for your loss of Prince Dex. Elgar can be rather careless with his toys. They always seem to wind up dead."
"Oh, Dex isn't dead," the second boy said.
Divatox had considered that a possibility, but it was an unwelcome one.
"In fact," the boy continued, "King Dex is currently kicking Prince Gasket's mechanical ass and breaking your slaving organization. So…"
Divatox ground her teeth. "You think you've got the upper hand? You're ants to me, and I still have your friends. If you don't tell me what I want to know, I will kill them. Their lives are in your hands."
Suddenly, the lights dimmed around Divatox. Her crew started scrambling to various stations, trying to explain the power fluctuation.
"Yes, they are," the first boy said. "You shouldn't have stayed still so long. Lets people teleport in and out fairly easily."
"He's right," Rygog reported. "I'm reading four new life signs on board."
Divatox was fuming, but not so much that she didn't notice the confusion that passed over the boys' faces. So, she had multiple groups of intruders, some they didn't know about.
"Set the teleport shield," Divatox barked. She grinned at the viewscreen. "I'm much obliged for the new prisoners. I'll be back in touch to discuss your options.
She cut communication and spun to face Rygog. "Get in touch with Elgar, and scramble the crew. We have four intruders, some from our friends in Count Dregon's ship and some from an unknown source. Find them. They'll be looking to release the prisoners or sabotage the ship. Don't let them."
With that, Divatox left the bridge. If Elgar couldn't make the prisoners talk, she would do it herself.
The screen went blank, and Tommy and Zack looked at each other. Billy had set the controls to automatically keep pace with Divatox's ship, so thankfully neither of them had had to figure out how to work an alien spaceship. They weren't planning on staying there long anyway.
"Four intruders?" Zack said. "There'll be three once you go over, but there should only be Billy and Trini. There's no one else around."
"That we know of." Tommy shrugged, choosing to ignore Zack's slip that he wasn't going over. "Apparently Divatox has more than one enemy. You'd think she'd be more careful about people teleporting on and off her ship in that case."
"That's still gonna make things difficult for… well… everything," said Zack. "An enemy of Divatox does not mean a friend of ours."
"Right. Better tell the others." Tommy tapped his communicator. "Billy, do you read?"
Static answered him.
"Jason? Trini? Kimberly? Anyone out there?" He paused. "Zordon?" he asked in a small voice.
Zack huffed in frustration. "This is getting old. Man, you just don't know how much you rely on communication if you don't have any. We haven't been able to talk to Zordon for hours, but now the other Rangers?"
"I'm guessing it's whatever is scrambling teleportation on Divatox's ship," Tommy said, hoping that really was the case. "All we can do now is stick to the plan. We still gotta get over there. Ready to set up the zip line?"
"No," Zack said. "Like I told Trini, no way in hell."
"Oh, come on," Tommy said, grinning. He knew Zack didn't actually have a choice—they both knew that—but Tommy didn't want to order him. He was still a bit uncomfortable leading the team when it came to that. "It'll be just like a pirate boarding a ship."
"In the vacuum of space."
"You'll be morphed."
"Which means shit-all in the vacuum of space."
"It'll be fun."
"Did I mention the vacuum of space?"
Tommy sighed. "Would you rather our friends fought over there by themselves?"
Zack scowled. "No… Fine, then. But I'm closing my eyes."
"That was really easy," Billy said, holding the now-useless power component in one glove, while he melted some of the circuitry on the panel with the other.
"That's probably the last time we're going to get to say that today," Trini said, taking the power component, tossing it in the air, and slicing it in half with her dagger. "That's got the ship working on emergency power and knocked out some of their security, but the self-destruct sequence on the bridge is going to be more difficult. We have to deal with more than just machines."
"Acknowledged," Billy said. "Though after our encounter fighting with Dex, I'm not sure I'm ever going to say 'just a machine.'" He finished the sabotage job and put the torch away. He looked wistfully at the now-ruined controls. It almost felt like blasphemy to destroy such advanced technology, even if it was for a good cause.
"I'll give Jason and Kim the signal," Trini said, "and we'll head for the bridge." She smiled. "Things are about to get interesting."
Billy smiled back and tried not to think how much he would miss Trini. He was so glad they could science together one more time.
"The hell you say?"
The corridors had gone dim, evidence of their emergency power status. Elgar stood in the brightest patch of the detention hallway, a communicator box pressed to his ear. "Rygog, have you been getting into the wine we took from those KO-35 refugees? That stuff made me walk on the walls for a week!"
"You weren't walking on the walls," Rygog said with barely-suppressed frustration. "You were lying on the ground and kicking the wall because of lost motor function. And will you pay attention?! There are intruders, and you should secure the prisoners."
"Are you sure I wasn't walking on the walls?" Elgar said. "I clearly remember…"
While Elgar had been talking, he hadn't been paying attention to several things. He wasn't listening to the conversation going on in the cell to his right, the one holding the Power Rangers behind an opaque glass wall. If he had, he would have known to step clear, as that wall was about to shatter.
He was also not paying attention to the cell on his left, where Goldar was being held behind a transparent glass wall. If Elgar had been paying attention, he would have seen Goldar shifting in his bonds and repositioning the drill that had been boring into his chest to point toward the straps holding up his arms. The drill made quick work of the straps and, before Elgar could even register what was happening, Goldar crashed to the floor, tore the heavy casing of the drill from its stand, and hurled it right at the center of the glass. The glass exploded with a loud CRACK, and Goldar, grabbing up the fallen drill again, launched himself past the doorway and onto Elgar.
Elgar didn't even see it coming, and hadn't had time to prepare for Goldar's strength. He was unconscious before he hit the floor, breaking the communicator on the way down.
Moments later, Jason and Kimberly emerged from their cell, morphed to protect their skin from the glass, to see a weak and bloodied Goldar furiously pounding on an unconscious Elgar.
"That may answer a few questions," Kimberly said quietly. "Should we…"
Jason was already in motion. He grabbed Goldar by the arms and pulled him from Elgar. Before Goldar could acknowledge the intrusion, he slumped forward in Jason's arms, his body finally giving out, now that it didn't have anything to fight.
Kimberly took one look at the cell opposite them with the same shattered glass, the torture implements, and Goldar's blood-slicked armor. "Three guesses as to who Elgar's torture victim was."
Jason was checking for a pulse, remembering where to check from the last time he'd stood over a tortured Goldar. "He's alive, but his pulse is weak. Gotta be shock and blood loss." He looked at Kimberly. "We still have to get the slaves over to Dex's ship, but if we leave Goldar here he's going to die. Your call, Kim."
Kimberly pursed her lips. On the one hand, she'd never been all that friendly with Goldar, even when she was evil. On the other hand… a life was a life. They knew Goldar, and he had once been Tommy's friend.
"I'll go after the slave quarters," Kimberly said. "You take Goldar to the zip line and over to the ship. Secure him, try to stabilize him, and come back if we're still over here. We may need the help."
"Right," Jason said wryly, shouldering Goldar the best he could. He would rather have not moved Goldar at all before getting medical help, but if their plans went well, there wouldn't be a ship all too soon, and he couldn't risk dooming even an enemy to be blown up like that.
Speaking of…
"Leave him," Kimberly said, pointing to Elgar. "If he wakes up, he can save himself, but we're not putting ourselves out for him."
"But…" Jason began.
"He kills for fun," Kimberly said tiredly. "He tortures for the thrill of it." She turned, heading for the quarters full of the slaves Elgar had personally terrorized. "He doesn't get saved."
Jason nodded and turned in the other direction. He was for once grateful he wasn't the one making the hard decisions.
Zack leaned against the wall, his hands on his knees. He wondered what would happen if he vomited in his helmet. He didn't think one of his Ranger powers was sudden invulnerability to nausea.
Tommy secured the zip line to a code that only the other Rangers knew. The zip line was a really sophisticated device; Billy's head had almost exploded when he discovered it in the ship's stores. It was less of a line and more of a directed gravity field. It linked two ships together in space, creating a semi-permeable portal at each end so that people could get through but it wouldn't hurt either ships' hull, and allowed travelers to zoom through space, protected by a field on all sides. As long as neither ship moved, the field couldn't be broken, and it was protected by security on both ends.
It was also possibly the most fun Tommy had ever had.
"See?! What'd I tell ya?" Tommy said. "Wasn't it like flying through space?"
Zack shook his head hard, but that just made his stomach heave, so he stopped. "Not doing that again. Can't make me."
Tommy sighed. "We had to set the teleportation shield on the other ship before we left to prevent any intruders. There's literally no way to get back without that."
Zack laughed shakily. "You know… sometimes… I still can't stand you."
"Won't have to put up with me for long, though," Tommy said.
They looked at each other uneasily. Zack had been the one least willing to welcome Tommy to the team, and they'd never actually been close. But now that Zack was leaving, there was a sense of regret for lost opportunity.
"Right," Zack said, breaking the spell. "I'm off to help Billy and Trini on the bridge."
"And I'm headed to Jason and Kim at the slave quarters," Tommy said. "Meet back here in half an hour."
They ran in opposite directions, somewhat grateful to do so.
Tommy had gone past one intersection and up one floor, feeling particularly lucky that he hadn't run into anyone, when he ran into someone. Or something. He couldn't decide.
He raised his sword at the monster before him. It was a giant skeleton, with massive shoulders, a soldier's helmet, and a bony grinning face. Exactly half of him looked like he'd been painted in camouflage, while the other half was white bone.
"You work for Divatox?" Tommy said. He almost dropped his guard, though, when he realized the skeleton had said the same thing at the same time.
"Another intruder," he said, and realized the skeleton had again said the same thing at the same time.
"Could you stop?" Tommy said, thankfully without the echo this time.
"Hey, you were copying me," the skeleton said. "And what the hell's a Power Ranger doing here? Only White Ranger I know of is on Aquitar."
Tommy looked down at his costume. "Oh, yeah, I'm used to being green, though. You know what I am?"
He stopped back when the skeleton raised his own sword, a sword that seemed to be made from bone as well. "Yeah, I know what you are," he said, his voice suddenly dropping menacingly. "And I know who you are. You're him." He spat out the last word like a curse. "I gotta beef with you."
Tommy barely had a chance to raise his guard again when the skeleton attacked. Tommy defended himself, wondering how he could have pissed off someone he didn't know this much.
"You know…" Jason said through gritted teeth, "this would be a LOT easier if you weren't a big… heavy… space monkey…"
Goldar didn't answer, considering he was still unconscious. Instead, he unhelpfully bled some more, making Jason's fireman's hold on him more unstable as the blood slicked over Jason's gloves. It didn't stick to Jason's uniform, but it did shift Jason's hold on Goldar every few minutes.
"And it would be really helpful if Divatox's ship hadn't been designed by a crazy person," Jason said. He'd already gotten lost twice and had to get directions from Zack… who sounded like he had his hands full at the moment.
"I designed this ship," a very familiar voice said behind Jason.
Jason turned to see Divatox advancing on him. Of course.
"Explains a lot," Jason said. He shifted Goldar on his shoulder, but he knew he wouldn't be able to either run or fight while lugging him around. And it meant certain death for Goldar if he left him there and ran. That wasn't even an option. So… Jason put Goldar down, got between him and Divatox, and crouched in a fighting stance.
Divatox took one look at him and laughed. "Oh, you expect a fight to happen, do you?" She smirked. "I knew you were after power, Jason Lee Scott of Angel Grove, California, wherever that is, but I didn't know you were also suicidal. Of course, you could take yourself and your fellow prisoner back to your cell, I'll think about forgiving the mess you've made."
Jason eye twitched at hearing his information said back to him, probably read straight from his luggage tag in his backpack. "Not sure if you've looked around, Divatox, but things aren't going that well for you."
"Oh, honey…" Divatox grinned, "you really don't know what you're getting into. Don't worry… I'll make it quick."
She launched herself at him before he knew what was happening. He felt a swoop, his stomach turned over… and suddenly he realized he was being held upside down by his ankle. And being repeatedly slammed against the wall. Three slams was enough to de-morph him. He held his breath and closed his eyes, waiting for the fourth one that would probably end his life.
And then an alarm split the air. Divatox screamed a curse, dropped him, and ran down the corridor.
"Hey… you alive?" came a weak growl from behind him.
Jason groaned and tried to move. "Yeah, of course you'd wake up for that."
He looked up to see Goldar using the wall to get to his feet. As soon as he was on his feet, Jason expected him to head off and leave him. Jason would have to call for help, and he hoped his communicator hadn't been damaged.
Instead, Goldar limped over to him. "You got a way off this boat?"
"Sure," Jason said. "Zip line." He motioned vaguely down the same corridor Divatox had just disappeared down, and then immediately cursed himself. He could have used that as a way to get help from Goldar.
Goldar didn't disappear, though. Still holding on to the wall for support, he reached down and helped Jason to his feet. "Then let's get the fuck out of here. I assume you Rangers have some crazy plan, and I don't want to be caught in the crossfire."
Jason looked over the both of them. Goldar looked half dead on his feet, and Jason couldn't morph without hurting himself even more. They were leaning on each other just to limp along. "Where's your sword?" Jason said, grasping for anything they could use to protect themselves, particularly if Divatox came back to finish the job. Or if Elgar came for payback.
"Gone," Goldar said, keeping his eyes straight ahead. "That bastard Elgar vaporized it right in front of me."
"Sorry," Jason said, pulling them to the right as they reached an intersection, thankfully away from where Divatox had gone. "I shoulda let you kill him."
Goldar guffawed. "Watch out, Red Ranger. You'll lose both of your goody two shoes."
Jason chuckled weakly. "Why do you think I'm leaving?"
Goldar didn't respond. Instead, they focused on making their painful way to the zip line.
Kimberly's hands were shaking, but she kept them folded to try to control them. She hoped her voice modulator was hiding the fact that her voice was equally shaky.
"Why don't they move, Zarius?"
She looked to the Edenoi woman standing next to her, the one who had become de facto leader of the thirty slaves in the bunker, most of whom were Edenoi.
"A few more days, and we might all be like that," Zarius said with a quiet bitterness in her voice. "Slaves aren't supposed to have free will, after all."
"You're not slaves," Kimberly insisted. "Not anymore. Once we get you over the zip line to our ship."
"And then what?" Zarius pulled her brown hair back, the light throwing her hollowed out eyes in sharp relief. "It's not like we have a place to go back to. Lexian… Dex… hell, even Dregon. All dead, and the planet uninhabitable."
Kimberly's head popped up. "Dex? As in, Prince Dex?"
Zarius's eyes were starting to swim. "Elgar just told us how he…"
"Oh, he's not dead," Kimberly said. "He just saved my teammates, and he's still fighting on the neutral…"
Kimberly didn't finish, as Zarius had grabbed both of her shoulders. "You… you're saying Dex is still alive?"
Kimberly cleared her throat. "I think he wants to go by 'King Dex' now."
Zarius gave out a loud whoop and turned to face the other slaves. "You hear that?! If Dex is still alive and still fighting, you sure as hell aren't going to sit on your asses any longer!"
She and the other coherent Edenoi started grabbing their compatriots and pulling them to the door. Kimberly grinned behind her helmet, glad she'd accidentally hit on the thing that would motivate them all… and ran right smack into Scorpina. At that same moment, a loud alarm rent the air.
"Watch where you're going, Pink Ranger," Scorpina said breezily. "I have precious cargo here."
"I heard there were other intruders," Kimberly said. She eyed the large jar Scorpina was holding in front of her. "What's in the jar?"
"None of your business," Scorpina said tartly. "And we might need to get a move on. I just tripped the alarms, and Divatox is on her way." She shifted the jar. "We apparently can't teleport. You got an exit strategy."
Kimberly sighed and rolled her eyes. She apparently had drawn the short straw, as neither Jason nor Tommy was there to give her backup. "You help get these slaves out, you get to use our zip line. Deal?"
Scorpina's face split in a grin. "Sounds good. SLAVES! STAND!"
Immediately the complacent slaves got to their feet, having resisted all of Zarius's attempts at getting them going. She stared in bewildered fury at Scorpina.
Scorpina shrugged. "Divatox has apparently been putting drugs in their food. It hits some harder than others. They're only going to respond to one-word, simple commands right now."
Zarius looked at Kimberly. "You trust this woman?"
"Not in a billion years," Kimberly said, eyeing Scorpina's smug face. "But Divatox is on her way, and if everything's going to plan, this ship's going up in flames all too soon. So…"
"You Rangers are blowing up Divatox's ship?" Scorpina said in disbelieving laughter. "When did you all suddenly turn fun?"
Kimberly sighed. She knew Scorpina would be a fan of Tommy's plan. "Just… let's get out of here before the situation turns too fun."
Scorpina hoisted the jar again. "Lead the way, Pink."
Kimberly turned and, rankling at having to do it, yelled, "SLAVES! MARCH!"
"What purpose does a periscope serve in a spaceship?" Billy asked wearily after the third time he'd been slammed into it.
Trini was too busy fighting to answer, and Billy joined in. Unfortunately, they were behind schedule. While they were keeping pace with Divatox's fighter, they had to work in tandem to do so. Neither could slip away to set the self-destruct sequence.
So it was quite a relief when an energy blast came shooting from the entry to the bridge, and they could see the Power Axe aimed right at the fighter.
"You'd be Rygog, right?" Zack said. "So how's imprisoning those intruders going?"
Rygog said nothing. In fact, the blast from the Power Axe had apparently caught him just right, and he'd keeled over immediately.
"You're late!" Trini snapped.
"Better late than never," Zack said. "And you guys were having problems with him?"
Trini was preparing to retort furiously when a cool computer voice came over the loudspeaker, "Fifteen minutes to self-destruct."
They looked over at Billy, who waved from a console. "I expect that means we should make our escape expeditiously."
Trini threw up her hands. "Right then." She walked over to Rygog and gave him a good kick. "Hey. Wake up. You're ship's going to blow up, and you probably don't want to be on it."
Rygog stirred and looked around groggily. "Did you just say the ship was going to blow up?"
"And I've destroyed the controls," Billy added. "And it seems the self-destruct sequence prevents teleportation as well."
He got up, and the three Rangers put up their guard.
"I'm not going to fight you," Rygog said in a tired voice. "If I don't save Divatox and Elgar, they're going to get themselves blown up."
The three watched as he sprinted down the hallway, going rather fast despite his bulk and armor.
"You know," Zack said, "we could probably say the same thing about Tommy, Jason, and Kimberly."
With that, the three ran down the hallway themselves, hoping against hope their friends had actually made it to the rendezvous point.
"Fifteen minutes to self-destruct," the computer calmly informed the rest of the ship.
Kimberly, Zarius, and Scorpina started herding the Edenoi and various other drugged prisoners faster down the hallway.
Goldar and Jason looked at each other exasperatedly, and then started limping along faster.
Rygog found the unconscious Elgar first and hoisted him onto his shoulder, barely breaking his dead run.
And the skeleton finally pauses in his attacks against Tommy.
"Did that just say 'self-destruct?'" the skeleton said.
Tommy shrugged. "Seemed like a good idea at the time."
They both jumped when they heard loud footfalls come down the hallway adjacent to them. A minute later, Kimberly appeared, leading a line of dead-eyed people.
"Where the hell have you been?!" Kimberly yelled at Tommy. "I had to send Jason off to do… something… but I expected you as backup."
"Seems like you took care of everything," Tommy said. "And I was fighting with this guy."
"You were doing WHAT?" There was a furious, familiar voice at the end of the line, and Tommy was shocked to see Scorpina push her way to the front, carrying a large jar and seething at the skeleton. "Rito, what the hell?! You were supposed to be helping me get the jar!"
"Looks like you got it on your own," the skeleton… Rito… said. "And do you know who this is?" He pointed a bony thumb at Tommy.
Scorpina looked at the morphed form that she'd never seen. "I know exactly who this is, and you have no business fighting him when we're on a mission and, oh, the ship is going to blow up in…"
"Thirteen minutes to self-destruct," the computer intoned.
"Thank you!" Scorpina yelled at it.
"What are you doing working with Scorpina?" Tommy said to Kimberly. "And what's in the jar?"
"None of your business," Scorpina said.
"I needed help, and I apparently wasn't getting any of it from my teammates," Kimberly shot back. "I've promised her a trip on the zip line, by the way, and now I guess we have to let her buddy come with."
"Excuse me…" Zarius interjected, "but I don't know where the zip line is, and I'd rather not spend my new-found freedom being blown up."
"You're right, and we're close," Kimberly said. "Come on, everyone. SLAVES, MARCH!"
Tommy led the way to the zip line around the corner, eyeing the odd assortment of his teammates, prisoners, enemies, and one irate skeleton, but deciding not to question any of it right then. As soon as they turned the corner, they saw Trini, Zack, and Billy barreling in from the opposite direction. They paused in shock at the sight of a giant skeleton, and then even more shock at the sight of Scorpina.
"No time," Tommy said. "Billy, you go over first so you can help the prisoners when we send them over."
"Affirmative!" Billy said excitedly. He keyed in the code and threw himself down the zip line. The shield and vacuum dampened any sound, but they could practically hear Billy's excited yells as he made the trip.
As soon as he'd cleared the other side, Billy gave the signal, and Zarius and Kimberly started ordering the rest of the prisoners down the zip line, trying to evacuate those least capable of taking care of themselves first.
"Where's Jas?" Zack said. "And who's that guy? And what's in the jar?"
"None of your business," Scorpina said.
"I sent Jason with… another prisoner who was wounded," Kimberly said, eyeing Scorpina. "He should have made it to the zip line already, but…"
"He ran into Divatox."
Everyone who wasn't loading prisoners into the zip line turned to see Jason, unmorphed and covered in blood, come around the corner. Jason gave one heave, and they realized he was dragging someone in gold armor.
Trini, Zack, and Tommy ran forward. Zack caught Jason as he was pitching forward, having made it as far as he could unaided. Tommy and Trini grabbed the person Jason had been dragging, and then stepped back when they realized who it was.
"Yeah, okay, it was Goldar," Kimberly said. "He was being tortured by Elgar. If we left him, he would have died."
"Still an option," Scorpina said.
"Not if I have anything to say about it," Jason said, feeling a bit stronger now that he wasn't trying to support or carry Goldar's weight. "He's been helping me escape, and he just now passed out again from blood loss and who knows what internal damage."
"No one dies," Tommy snapped at Scorpina. "At least… not anyone who's in Goldar's shape. How's the transfer going?"
"We're starting on the prisoners who are still in their right minds," Kimberly reported.
"We send Goldar next," Tommy said. "Jas, you too. Trini, go with them, get Jas some serum, and do what you can for Goldar. Get him in one of those cells."
"Oh, look at this. All the dead people standing in a group. So convenient."
Zarius and her fellow prisoners recoiled in terror at the voice, and the able-bodied Rangers drew their weapons.
Divatox stood before them, smiling pleasantly. It was only a single twitch on her cheek that told of her fury. It jumped when the computer informed them there were ten minutes until self-destruct.
"Oh, how fun," Divatox said softly. "The children want to fight. Ask Jason there how much of a bad idea it is to fight me.
Jason had sagged against the wall when Zack wasn't there to hold him up. He didn't have to say anything.
"And how long did it take me to do that, Jason?" Divatox said sweetly.
"About a minute," Jason said, trying not to show how much she unnerved him.
Divatox's smile broadened. "And imagine what I could do in ten."
"I never pegged you as a 'go down with the ship' kind of gal," Scorpina supplied.
Divatox turned her sharp eyes at Scorpina, her smile melting when she noticed the jar. "That's mine," she said through gritted teeth.
"It's really not," Scorpina said dangerously. "I don't understand why you have it anyway."
"Just an opportunity to take that stuck-up witch down a peg or two," Divatox said. "Little princess, always handed everything on a silver platter. Some of us have to actually work for what we have."
"What did you call her?!" Rito said, brandishing his sword.
While this was going on, Zarius had been quietly and quickly securing the freedom of all her friends. Tommy kept watch out of the corner of his eye, and as soon as Zarius herself had disappeared, he launched into action. "Fire!" he yelled, and Zack, Trini, and Kimberly all pulled their blade blasters and fired on Divatox. It didn't hurt her, but in the ensuing confusion, Tommy had time to grab the jar from Scorpina's hands and fling it down the zip line.
"There," he said. "No more prisoners. No more jar. No more ship in…"
"Seven minutes to self-destruct," the computer said calmly.
"Yeah, that," Tommy said. "So do you want to fight and die? Or run and possibly save yourself? Because you're not getting down this zip line. Guy on the other end will see you in it and break the connection, leaving you floating in space. You may be strong, but can you really fight us all and escape before you die?"
Before Divatox could respond, and from her face it looked like she had quite a response, a dart hit her neck, and she slumped to the floor.
Seconds later, Rygog sprinted into view, Elgar already in tow. He grabbed Divatox easily with his other arm and slung her over his shoulder.
"If they were awake," Rygog said, "Elgar would make some kind of tasteless joke that didn't make a whole lot of sense, and Divatox would yell and swear her undying quest for vengeance against all of you… which you should expect, by the way. Unfortunately, if they said all that, I wouldn't have time to get them to the escape pod."
With that, he took down the corridor, leaving them all slightly bewildered.
"Five minutes to self-destruct," the computer reminded.
"Okay. Looks like we all get to live if we can haul ass in the next few minutes," Kimberly said. "Zack, help me with Goldar."
Kimberly continued to supervise the zip line, while Tommy guarded against any other possible intrusions. There were none.
"So, was Divatox running this entire ship with just her and two other people?" Tommy asked Scorpina, who had sidled up to him.
"I would say she's deeply stupid, and I wouldn't be far from wrong, but truth is she's just vastly unpopular," Scorpina said. "She's a pirate from a pirate family trying to be a ruler of darkness, and the two things just don't mesh. Most of her family's disowned her, and no one wants to work with her. She wasn't lying when she said she'd worked damned hard for everything she had." She smiled at him. "And you're blowing up her ship now. Congratulations on making an exciting new enemy."
"We seem to do that," Tommy said. "I'm just glad we don't have to fight her."
Scorpina shrugged. "We could have taken her out. She's insanely strong for about five minutes, so we would have had to sacrifice a few people, but she wouldn't have been able to take on all of us."
"And then we could have all died in an explosion," Tommy reminded her.
Scorpina chuckled. "There is that. Um… thanks, by the way. For getting the jar to safety."
"You don't think I know what's in there?" Tommy said quietly.
Scorpina looked up, startled, but they were interrupted by Kimberly's insistence that they stop catching up and get off the damn exploding ship already. They still had to break connection and get a safe distance away.
The Rangers, the coherent former prisoners, and Scorpina and Rito watched the ship explode in the distance. Billy and Zarius prepared the shields for the shockwave, but they were far enough away that they wouldn't have to worry about any damage.
"Seriously?" Scorpina said.
Tommy, Kimberly, and Zack, all still morphed, had drawn their blade blasters and were training them on Scorpina and Rito. Rito, who hadn't said much after he'd stopped fighting Tommy, glowered at them all, though they weren't sure if that was just his natural facial expression, given his face was a skull. There seemed to be extra menace behind the eyes.
"Can't take any chances, Scorpina," Tommy said. "Now that we're safe, I can't trust you and your new friend not to take over the trip… or try to kill certain mutual acquaintances currently in holding cells."
Scorpina rolled her eyes, but held her hands up and motioned Rito to do the same.
"Look… I don't want any trouble," Scorpina said, suddenly sounding very tired. "Seriously. I was planning an in and out operation to get the jar when you Rangers stumbled in and blew everything all to hell. I just need to look up some coordinates for a teleport mark, and I'll take the jar and go."
"A jar you took from the ship of an insane power-hungry pirate," Zack pointed out. "How do we know it's not dangerous?"
Rito chuckled. "Oh, it's dangerous."
"And that's seriously all?" Tommy said, drawing curious looks from the other Rangers.
"I swear on all the chocolate on Earth," Scorpina said, smirking.
Kimberly was looking from Scorpina, to Tommy, to the jar, and then back again. "Oh, God, you can't be serious," she said finally.
"What?" Zack said.
It was Billy who supplied the answer, still busy at the controls. "Rita's in the jar."
They all stared at the jar, as if they could almost hear Rita's voice. Of course, the jar was really the container for another dimension where Rita was stuck, so that was patently impossible.
"I don't know what Divatox was planning to do to her," Scorpina said. "They were apparently at school together, and Divatox was always jealous of Rita. Daddy's favorite and heir to a fortune, when Divatox was the black sheep with no real talent… except for ferreting out powerful relics, that is."
"But she's still stuck in there, isn't she?" Kimberly asked. "I mean, she's not about to…"
"Don't worry," Scorpina said. "I'm not even going to attempt to open the jar myself. For one, I'm not sure what that would actually do, and I don't want to hurt her."
"Or anyone else?" Zack supplied.
Scorpina smirked. "Yeah, sure."
"We're taking her to dad's," Rito said. "He'll know what to do. And I don't care what any of you try to do, you're not going to stop us." He turned his attention to Tommy. "Especially you, asshole. You got her into this mess. Goldar may have betrayed her, but you weakened her enough that she couldn't put up a fight against Zedd. I've got more important things to do now, but someday I'm going to take it out of your hide… if Rita doesn't."
Tommy looked at Scorpina, who was rubbing her head in frustration.
Tommy lowered his blaster and motioned the others to do the same. "We've got the jar in secure storage," he said, "and you can have it back when you're ready to leave. Any funny business, and we're taking the jar to Zordon. He would also know what to do with it."
Rito was about to surge forward, but Scorpina held him back. "Fair enough," she said.
"Billy," Tommy said, "could you help them find their coordinates so they can teleport out? Trini, how are the patients?"
Trini had been hovering in the doorway of the bridge, ready to lend assistance should things go sideways. "The Edenoi are comfortable, and the more coherent ones are helping the ones drugged out of their minds. It'll just be a matter of time for them to come out of it. Jason is serumed, and he's guarding Goldar, who is stabilized and in one of the holding cells. He's hurt, but he's awake and healing. You can talk to him whenever."
Tommy was about to acknowledge this, when Scorpina interrupted him. "Let me talk to him… alone."
Tommy laughed, but then looked at her face. "You're serious."
"You have the jar," Scorpina said. "You've got me by the short ones. I won't touch him. I just have to… make sure about something."
Goldar was aware of dull metal reflecting brightly-colored gems. He groaned and slowly allowed his eyes to focus. He was sitting on a bed with a thin mattress, and his whole body ached. And he had vague memories of…
He slowly realized the bed he was lying on was a bed in a detention cell, the gems were Edenoi technology powering forcefields keeping him in there, and that the Red Ranger was leaning against wall outside the cell, morphed but helmetless, with his hand close to his blade blaster just in case he needed to draw it.
"This is a bit different," Jason remarked. "Last time it was me in the cell and you standing guard."
Goldar pushed himself up slowly, his head swimming. "I would think your recent encounter with Divatox would have knocked out some of that smugness. Glad to see some things never change."
Jason's smile faltered. "Yeah, that kind of sucked, didn't it? Her ship's blown up, by the way. Everyone got off safe."
"What about Divatox and her boys?"
"Rygog was taking both Divatox and Elgar to an escape pod," Jason said. "They probably got off."
Goldar groaned again, this time not from pain. "Damn kids don't know when to kill an enemy. Always playing with fire."
Jason chewed at a fingernail, refusing to be baited. "Not much longer for me, though."
Goldar guffawed. "Life of peace, huh? You think you'll be happier like that?"
"I really do," Jason said without a hint of irony. "By the way… Scorpina's here. She's coming down to talk to you."
Goldar groaned yet again. "That's just fantastic."
Jason shifted from the wall, apparently wanting to leave before Scorpina got there. He gave Goldar a nod before he left, and Goldar returned it. That was the most they were going to acknowledge saving each other's lives.
When Scorpina finally entered, Goldar had managed to get himself to his feet. He carefully didn't move so he wouldn't tip over, but at least he appeared stronger than he was.
Scorpina smirked. "You're not fooling anyone."
"What do you want, Scorpina," Goldar said, still staying on his feet.
Scorpina slinked around the room, seeming to look everywhere but Goldar. Goldar knew her… this was her way of trying to put off talking about important things, and it disturbed him. She was usually so direct.
"I'm here to give you some advice," Scorpina finally said. "You can take it or leave it. I really don't give a shit, but I just thought I'd say something in honor of the good times we had together."
Goldar ground his teeth, sort of knowing what was coming. "And that is?"
"Leave the war," Scorpina said, still looking away from him. "Don't go back to Zedd. I've heard that if you don't finish this mission, he's going to kill you, and as much as I hate you now, your death would be unfortunate."
Goldar laughed. This was definitely not what he was expecting. "What, and give all this up?" He gestured around him, to his recent wounds, and almost fell for his troubles. "It's not that easy."
"No, it's not that easy, but it can be done." Scorpina paused. "It's what I'm doing."
Goldar gave up and sat down hard on the bed.
"I had one last mission," Scorpina said. "And I've succeeded. I'm going to a neutral planet after this, buying a house, and quitting bounty hunting."
"I thought so," Goldar said. "Divatox had Empress Rita's jar. You rescued her?"
Scorpina nodded. "Taking her to her father, where even your Lord Zedd can't reach her, so I don't care if you tell him or not."
"I'm not going to," Goldar said, annoyed. He'd momentarily forgotten that Scorpina still considered him a traitor. "I'm glad she's going to be safe. But… it doesn't make sense. Why give up like this?"
"Not giving up." Scorpina said. "Just trying to build a better future… for my baby."
Goldar's eyes immediately flew to Scorpina's midriff. She'd modified her armor to cover what was usually a bit more exposed, but now that Goldar was looking for it, he could see the gentle swell where there would usually be taught, defined stomach.
"Holy shit, you're pregnant," Goldar said quietly. "How long?"
"I knew before I left Earth," Scorpina said. "Look, I'm not expecting anything from you…"
"Are you going to tell him?" Goldar said without waiting for her to finish her sentence.
Scorpina folded her arms, her face astonished. "How do you know it's not you?"
"Because I can't," Goldar said. "Haven't been able to for a very long time. That's leaves a very short list of people it could be, and my money's on a certain long-haired maniac of a human."
Scorpina scrubbed her face with her hands, laughing weakly. "I… I knew it was him, of course. Did a DNA test as soon as I could. But…" She swallowed hard. "Tommy's a child. And an enemy. I didn't consider him either at the time, but now…"
"I won't tell," Goldar supplied quickly. "Like you've always said, you own your own body. Sex doesn't change that." He grimaced. "It's taken me a long time to understand that, but I do now."
Scorpina regarded Goldar sadly. "I'm giving you a chance. Rita's going to be out for revenge, Zedd is already ready to kill you, and now you're going to have Divatox targeting you once she gets back on her feet. Quit the war. Disappear."
"It's not that simple."
"It is for you." Scorpina took a breath. "I can't do it, because I have… extenuating circumstances." She rubbed her belly for emphasis. "But you can. There's a guy… He can do something with magic, apparently. Make you like you were before. It would take away your power, and you'd go back to looking like you did before you became… Goldar."
Goldar scowled. "Sounds like a scam."
"It's not," Scorpina said. "I've seen the results. Rito knew about it, but he's too nervous to go to him, and he still has this fantasy that his dad will appreciate him if he keeps upgrading his power. But you can."
They heard footsteps, and Scorpina silenced before she could be overheard. Tommy came around the corner, morphed but carrying his helmet. "Found those coordinates, Scorpina. Rito's making everyone nervous up there, and frankly this is making me nervous, so I suggest you go."
"Good to see you too, sweetheart," Scorpina said with heavy irony. "Think about what I said, Goldar. Tommy, I'll meet you up on the bridge."
"Is it just me, or have you Rangers gone a bit crazier since you took charge?" Goldar said, going with humor to mask how much Scorpina's talk affected him… and what he knew now about Tommy. "You know you've made a dangerous enemy in Divatox, don't you?"
"We've broken her power for right now," Tommy said. "She'll have to get in line."
Goldar guffawed. "You know as soon as I heal, I'm just going to teleport out of here. This cell is doing literally nothing."
"I know," Tommy said. "I just wanted to get in a few words before you leave. And to thank you for saving Jason. I know he wouldn't have said it out loud."
Goldar grunted and looked away. "What, are you trying to get me to leave the war, too?"
Tommy's eyes flew open in surprise. "That's what Scorpina talked to you about? I should have gone first. I knew she was going to steal my thunder."
"What, seriously?"
Tommy crossed his arms. "Look… Goldar… I know you don't really want to work for Zedd. That Zedd is that close to killing you most of the time. I also know that you can't keep up at this rate. Between Divatox and Rita once she gets out of the jar—I'm not sure if Scorpina told you, but that's what she was doing on the ship—I'm not sure how long you can last. You've only lasted the past hour because I forbade Scorpina and Rito from killing you outright."
"And so you think it's time for me to go into retirement," Goldar growled… though without the same menace he would usually put in it.
Tommy shrugged. "Not up to me. I expect you'll be gone soon anyway, but whatever you were doing to foil our mission, it hasn't worked. And you're too hurt to do anything about it. If you want, I can try to get Zordon to arrange…"
"Keep your favors and get the hell out of here," Goldar said, but again without menace. He mostly just sounded tired.
Tommy nodded, knowing he'd pushed as far as he could. He turned to leave. "I expect to see you gone in the next few hours. And… I hope I don't see you again."
"And… he's gone," Billy said.
The Rangers looked at each other, relieved. They powered down, too tired to keep up their morphed state. Scorpina and Rito were gone with the jar. Goldar had teleported out. Now they were left with just Zarius and the rest of the former prisoners.
Zarius was all smiles. "I just made contact with…" she paused for effect. "New Edenoi. King Dex…" she grinned again, "has dismantled that Machine Empire pretender, and he's organizing everyone left on the planet. They're welcoming us home."
Trini smiled. "I'm so glad. They'll have access to better health care than I can provide. You can get your friends back in their right minds."
"I'll be glad when I don't have to order them around," Zarius said. "Thankfully, I'll be able to take control of the ship with help from a few of the others. I doubt all of you want to come back to New Edenoi… so where should we drop you off. Unless you're going to teleport?"
As grateful as the Edenoi were for being rescued, they were obviously more than ready to get back to their new home.
"Well, that's a tricky question," Kimberly said. "We know where we're going now, but the planet is surrounded by so much old war tech that we can't teleport in… or take another ship." She glanced at Tommy. "We're going to need help."
"And we still can't contact Zordon," Zack said in frustration.
"I'm really worried about that," Jason said. "But… then again Zordon said we might lose contact."
"Zordon would be able to reach us if things were really bad," Tommy said, partially trying to reassure himself. "In the meantime, we need to focus in on our mission."
"I think I have the solution," Billy said. "I've been in contact with King Dex, asking if there are any allies who could help us… and he mentioned something really interesting." He spun in his chair for effect. "There's another Ranger team, on a planet called Aquitar, and they're on the way to the planet in question."
Tommy gauged the room, and saw no objections. "Okay, Billy… pull up the coordinates to Aquitar." He started to breathe easier. It looked like things were beginning to go right for the first time.
Divatox drummed her nails on the wall of the escape pod. She couldn't do much else. She was necessarily shoved in a corner behind Rygog, who was piloting, and next to Elgar, who was still asleep, but now snoring and muttering in his sleep.
"They took everything," Divatox said quietly. "Every. Fucking. Thing."
"Yes, captain," Rygog said crisply. He seemed to be hoping that strict military decorum would allay her fury at him. Or, at least, the cramped conditions of the escape pod would make it really difficult.
Divatox lapsed back into silence. She held up the two stiff cards with pictures, names, and addresses, apparently permits to operate vehicles. Jason Lee Scott and Kimberly Hart. They would be the first to pay.
