I was inspired to write again today thanks to receiving my Taty CD set in the mail so in return I give you chapter 45. As for the last chapter's quiz, the correct answer was Maroon carved an M on Tommy's chest right after she had sex with him. The following people were winners: A-c-H123314, jesusfreakfairy, pink-till-the-EnD, and dthstlkr69. Your emails have all been forwarded on to boredgirl84 and she will be sending you the icon. Congratulations to all! Now on to the next chapter!
Chapter 45 A Draught Gone Wrong
Master Vile's had been silent ever since the defeat of Devil Minion and Maroon. The hallways were empty; not a henchman wanted to be around to face the wrath of an angry Rita Repulsa. She'd stormed through the estate, cursing up a storm at the defeat of Devil Minion and the genius that was Maroon. It was as though the entire place was walking around on eggshells just for her. Well, almost. Lord Zedd wasn't even remotely near walking on eggshells. In fact, he was strolling jauntily through the hallways, humming an evil ditty to himself. He had told that blasted woman her plan wouldn't work. He'd told her she'd fail the end, and to just retire like he had. Of course, he reasoned, she was one of those silly women who had to be very stubborn.
Zedd made his way into a sideroom, one that he had furnished as his study. At least, that was what he called it. Inside were stacks upon stacks of books, but the dusty tomes showed a lack of usage. If they were used at all, it was for Zedd's footrest. No, this room was his getaway. It was the perfect place to be while the she-devil was on another rampage, yet again, for the third time in the past two hours. High-pierced screams told him it was best hide out for awhile.
Elsewhere, Finster was working furiously on a concoction to calm his queen down. He knew that no one would be able to handle her moodiness, but he hoped the draught would cool some of the steam off. "Yes, just a few more pinches of this gretze herb and it'll be good to go," he muttered to himself.
A loud crashing noise brought him out of his concentration. "What on earth?!" he shouted before turning around. "I should have known," he muttered when he saw Rito standing in a pile of broken bottles, the different colored liquids pooling together at his feet.
"Uh…. Yeah… I'm just…gonna go…" Rito trailed, turning and leaving abruptly. Finster was confused as to why he had been in the lab in the first place. He shrugged and turned back to the draught, which had turned a cerulean blue. His eyes flickered toward the spell book, making sure the draught was as it was to be. He ladled it into a tear drop shaped bottle, corking it. Now all he had to do was deliver it, which would be harder than actually making it. He knew that Rita's rampages were not to be taken lightly.
Finster poked his head into the hallway, checking the corridor for any signs of life. None were to be seen, but he could hear Rita. Her yelling echoed throughout, bouncing off the walls. Finster followed the sound of her voice, pleased when he found it getting louder the closer he seemed to come. He eventually found her on her balcony. For a few minutes he watched her antics, before clearing his throat.
"…all the stupid ignorant… white…red bastard that's what he is!" Rita suddenly turned when she heard someone behind her. "Finster!" she exclaimed. "This had better be good or your furry ass will be burned!"
"I…err…you see…"
"Spit it out dog-face!"
"I've created… a drink th-that might soothe… your nerves, m-m-my queen," stammered Finster. He held up the bottle, his hands shaking.
Rita snatched the bottle from his hands, and Finster drew them back to his sides as though bitten by an invisible snake. He watched as Rita uncorked the bottle, sniffing it. "Smells a little fruity," she stated, raising an eyebrow.
"That's just the nature of one of the herbs I added. It's perfectly fine."
Rita gave him one last sidelong glance before uncorking the bottle and downing the entire thing in seconds. She tossed it aside, and Finster winced as the glass shattered against the rock, sending dozens of broken shards skattering across the floor. She wiped at her mouth. "Not bad, not bad. Just how long will it take for this concoction to work?"
"Five minutes at most. It simply has to quickly run through your veins, and then you should feel much better about this entire ordeal."
"Funny…I don't…" Rita gripped at her stomach. "Finster, what the hell is this?!"
"Must be a small side effect. It'll pass quickly," he promised.
Two minutes ticked by slowly; Rita finally loosened her grip on her stomach. Her eyes skimmed the room, and Finster watched her nervously. "I believe you're right," she stated in a calm voice.
Finster released a breath he'd been holding in. "Why don't you come up with another scheme? Perhaps one that will effectively take down the Rangers later on?" He knew he had about two hours before the draught wore off and Rita returned to her old self.
Rita considered this. "You're right. They think I'm finished with them now… They think Rita Repulsa is the same old defeated witch. It's time to prove them wrong. I'm not finished with them. I need to strike when they think I'm not going to."
"Precisely, my queen!" Finster was glad the draught had taken effect. Perhaps planning a new attack would calm her down. By the time the draught wore off, she might discard the whole idea completely. For now, he decided to play along with her ideas. "What if you struck again, only more powerful?" What was the harm in encouraging her devilish side? According to what he'd read, she would remember nothing after drinking the draught after the effects wore off.
"Yes, yes! I know what I'll do! I'll bring back Maroon! She was a formidable challenge for those Rangers. Her style was unlike any other monster before her. With some proper training, I bet I could rid her of her faults."
"You know, I do still have some of Kimberly's DNA set aside," spoke up Finster. "We could use that to recreate Maroon. I can send down some Tenga henchmen to gather up any subtle remnants of Maroon's data from the final battle. We can fuse the two together, giving the new Maroon the old Maroon's memories and rivalries. She'll have all the memories the old Maroon had up until her destruction." The scientist within Finster was stirring, aching to create some new havoc upon the human-infested planet. And if Rita would never remember the effects, his scientist side would have a little creative fun.
"Perfect… this time we'll infuse the data with a fresh human soul, creating a new, yet almost identical Maroon."
"Why a human soul?" asked Finster, confused.
"Maroon needs more anger fed into her body. Kimberly's memories would not do that for her, even with the power I infused in her. I'm certain there's an angry teenager out there willing to sacrifice themselves for me. What are kids into these days? Devil worship? Something like that?"
"I…I'm sure we could find someone…." trailed Finster. The draught didn't appear to be calming Rita at all. It appeared to be re-channeling her anger into something else. He was certain that he'd added everything and mixed it all properly. It wasn't like him to forget something. He would double-check his potion work once he returned to his laboratory.
"I bet I could even involve Zeddy in this one…" mused Rita. "That teen just might believe he's the devil reincarnated on Earth…" she turned to her balcony, looking longingly at the telescope. "This will require some in-depth observation of Earth's dark children."
"Don't you think you're moving too fast?" asked Finster, trying to stall her plan in it's brainstorming stage. He suddenly had a very bad feeling about the draught.
"Why I must move fast if I want to put this plan into action soon. Observation will take a few months. I must find the most angry teenage girl. A boy simply won't do for Maroon. He doesn't have the same delicate anger that a girl does. His anger is raw, ready to pounce. A girl keeps hers inside, playing games, putting up facades. She toys with others, while a boy will jump when he wants. It's a girl I need."
"Yes, yes of course," acknowledged Finster.
Rita turned on Finster. "Go! Send down a few Tenga henchmen like you mentioned earlier! We must have any remains of Maroon gathered before we lose too much more time!"
Finster bowed before Rita. "Yes, my queen. Right away, my queen." He backed out of the room and hurried down the hall to his room. He contemplated not retrieving the information, since Rita wasn't going to remember any of this within a few hours. However, he couldn't do that, not yet. He had to check his potions book, and calm the strange feeling in his gut. Something felt off, felt wrong. This was not to happen. He burst into his laboratory, rushing over to his lab table where the book still lay open to the recipe for the draught. He ran a furry finger down the list of ingredients, which he'd checked off, one by one, as he'd gathered them up. He then read over the instructions, running mental images through his mind of adding this thing or that thing. It was then that his eyes trailed to the right, noticing a still unopened vial beside the book. He grabbed at it frantically, looking for the label. It was labeled in a strange alien tongue, but Finster quickly ran a translation through his mind. The forgetful moss… oh no! He'd made a mistake, a terrible mistake. He'd forgotten one of the most important pieces of the draught, and now Rita would remember every bit of what she'd just said. She really would lead another attack on the Rangers.
Within minutes, Finster had dispatched two Putty patrollers to Earth to collect Maroon's data. He only used them instead of Tengas because of their abilities to disguise themselves. He knew Zordon would pick up on any strange entrances into the environment. The two patrollers had been armed with a device specifically tuned to gather any remaining remnants of her data, encasing it within a glass vial. Finster knew that another attack on the Rangers would be more coordinated and less merciful. There was already to be one death…unless Rita knew of another method to procure a fresh human soul. Wanted to use Finster corrected himself. He had ways of extracting the soul from the human body, making it a living carcass, but Rita might prefer to simply torture her captive to death, extracting the soul during the last fleeting moments of life. All he could do was obey her orders and wait.
Machine Empire
"Daddy! Daddy! That stupid Rita lady lost!" shouted Prince Sprocket happily.
"Yes, my boy, that she did. I didn't think she'd survive against those Rangers."
"Of course not daddy! Nobody's as strong as you! You'll beat those Rangers before that witch ever will!"
"Right you are, my boy," answered King Mondo. "Truly takes after his father, wouldn't you say?" he asked, turning to his wife.
"Yes dear. He will make a fine king someday," Queen Machina acknowledged.
"Now my boy, you need to start paying close attention to how daddy attacks the Rangers from now one. You don't want to end up all washed up like Rita Repulsa, do you?" asked King Mondo. "Or your brother…" he mumbled under his breath.
"Of course not daddy. I'm gonna be the perfect ruler someday! Just like you!"
"Good, good. Why don't you go off and create our next terrible monster to send down and attack the Rangers? We must take advantage of their weakness."
"Okay daddy! I promise it'll be a good one!" Prince Sprocket took off down the hallway and his father laughed.
"Not exactly the best reason, but it makes him take my job seriously," mentioned King Mondo.
"Rita Repulsa makes a good model for him. He knows what mistakes to avoid in the future."
"Precisely," answered Mondo smugly.
Master Vile's, 2 hours later
Finster returned to Rita's balcony, a new bottle in his hands. Fifteen minutes ago his Putties had returned from Earth, their mission completed. He had taken the device from them and analyzed the data within. He had hoped they wouldn't have been able to find any traces of Maroon left, but his luck was not to be. They had found more than enough data necessary. Finster had considered dumping the data and lying to Rita about the ordeal, but he knew she'd see straight through his lying. His only choice was to give her the bottle.
He found Rita at her telescope, already hard at work planning the next attack. "My queen," he called in a confident voice. "I have the data you requested."
Rita turned around to face him, a wicked smile crossing her face. "Excellent, Finster. Exactly what I needed. I have already scouted out some likely candidates, but only observation will tell me if they are suitable for providing Maroon's new soul. Keep the bottle hidden in your laboratory until further notice. Let no one know you have it, especially not Zedd of all people."
Finster nodded. "I understand, my queen. Is there anything else?"
"For now, no. For now, you act like I am doing nothing. I will let you know when the time is right to strike again."
"Of course."
"I must study these candidates. You will work on formulating our plan of attack."
"Any particular targets?"
"For now, we'll focus on the Zeo team as a whole. In particular, Tommy, Katherine, and Kimberly, unless I change my mind. Now go!"
Finster turned and made the walk back to his laboratory. He placed the vial containing Maroon's data within a velvet lined case before hiding it in the back of his cabinet. He was not going to risk Rito coming in and destroying the bottle like he had earlier with the others. Just what was that all about anyway? He was afraid he'd never know and didn't want to know. Locking the cabinet, he sighed. The battle was over…for now.
Okay so yes I was evil. Those of you were are on my mailing list should have guessed I'd do a setup for the sequel. After all I sent out messages giving a call out for ideas for the sequel. So if any of the rest of you have ideas, I'm game. Just let me know somehow, though email is best. One last chapter to go!
Next time on Windmill into the Fall: The Rangers take a break from the long battle and all seems well... NOTE: FINAL CHAPTER ALERT