CHAPTER 17 - WHITE PARSELMOUTH

Severus Snape sat quietly a short distance from the muggles evacuated here. Over a dozen others had been brought in since he first arrived, the teenagers running the place quickly quieted any disruptions among them as they concentrated on the battles taking place around town. Slowly, those battles seemed to be coming to a close, the teenagers returning along with the 'Power Rangers' these people were so in awe over.

Justin finished scanning the last of the present armored Rangers. "Everyone's good."

"White, stay here," Jason ordered, reminding Harry of Tommy's standing order. "Rangers. Back to Action!"

The Red, Blue, Black and Pink Dino Rangers teleported out, joining Trini in a line behind Tommy. The moment they appeared, the serpent creature moved towards Jason only to be cut off again by Tommy. Tommy and the serpent danced around each other for awhile until the serpent struck out at Tommy, making its first aggressive move against the young Dragon lord. Tommy hissed under his breath, recognizing Zedd's plan now. While Tommy had been focusing and fighting against the serpent all day, this was the first time Lord Zedd actually concentrated on his creation, focusing his will against Tommy's.

Tommy hesitated for a moment then broke off the mental battle, letting Zedd have full control of the creation rather than allowing Zedd to get a true read on how strong his abilities to control serpents ran. With a single command, the Power Rangers fell in behind him and the physical battle began.

888

"I should be there," the White Ranger stated. He remained morphed since so many others were in the room, but the Thunder Rangers could well imagine the expression of annoyance on his face. "Just because there's a serpent on the battlefield doesn't mean I'm gonna start talking to it, you know."

With those words, Snape forgot to breath for a long moment. A parselmouth. He looked on the masked warrior warily, wondering if he'd made the right choice coming here.

"It's Dragon's order, White," Con pointed out yet again.

"I still should be out there."

"Raptor!" Con said as he turned to the younger boy, glaring at him. "Shut up already! That's the orders and that's what we're doing. You don't like it, take it up with Dragon for next time. Either watch the screens with us to make sure nothing sneaks up on them or sit quietly out of the way. Got it?"

The civilians watched in shock as the White Ranger backed down from the teenager sitting at the control panel. After a moment's silence, White Ranger moved forward and focused on the screens.

"Sorry," Harry murmured awhile later. "I just really don't like not being able to watch my brother's back."

Con smiled in understanding even as he pointed out, "We're all watching his back here, kid."

"Yeah. I guess we are."

Snape sat back, finally remembering to breath. He relaxed, deciding that whoever this White Ranger was, he wasn't anything like the Dark Lord.

Even as he was relaxing, the serpent was destroyed and the remaining six Power Rangers teleported into the room. The Green Ranger's gaze swept over his people, confirming everyone was okay, then he turned to the civilians in their midst. Sensing something off, something different about one, his hidden eyes locked on Severus Snape.

888

Continued - Let me know what you think. Review.