CHAPTER FIVE: The First Act

Bonnie walked down the East wing of the Command Center. It was three in the morning, and finally—after twelve hours worth of working—she was allowed to go to bed. Fortunately, none of the pieces of the space ring struck near the Command Center. Despite that fact, it was still in dire need of repair…

Commander Jamison had locked himself in his office to determine their next course of action.

Frankly at this point she was tired of worrying. What happened, happened. They were going to win this war—they had to. She shook her head--she wouldn't see her beloved planet desecrated and ravaged by those alien monsters. Stopping briefly to catch her breath and cough, she looked out the window and sighed.

It was pitch black outside—all the dirt thrown up into the air when the pieces fell were going to start a "nuclear winter".

The sun would never shine in her lifetime again.

She clenched her fists. "Our entire planet is probably dead! And here I am worrying about myself!" She exclaimed in anger. "Damn you…" She cursed as tears rolled down her cheeks. "Damn you…"

Bonnie lifted her head and continued to make her way back to her room.

She stopped again at the door to Ringo's quarters. Something was wrong with him—she had to know what it was. She had to know why he kept avoiding her. She had to know why he was so irritable. She had to know why he was so angry with her…she had to know what it was she did that set him off.

Resting her forehead against the door, she sighed once more. What did she say? How would she even begin? Her eyes shut as she inhaled the warm and inviting scent that filled the air. Suddenly she was washed over with a sense of peace. No longer did she feel as if she had any negativity aimed in her direction. The door opened, and she went in.

Ringo was lying on his side in bed, contemplating on whether or not he should leave now. He was taken from his thoughts as he heard his door open. Slowly he sat up and turned his head to look at the intruder. He took in a deep breath and blinked in bewilderment. His nose caught a flowery scent that cleansed his mind of all his previous thought. For a moment in time, he was back to his old self again—back when he was human, back when the only one he saw was her… He felt the familiar sense of endearment he'd had towards her, if only briefly…then his mind went blank. It was as if his body was functioning without his conscious.

"Bonnie…"

Bonnie watched him cautiously as he stood up and slowly went over to her.

"I'm sorry…" He murmured to her gently as he carefully picked her up and set her down onto his bed. "I didn't mean to avoid you…" He said while lowering his head to kiss her. "I didn't mean to snap at you like that…" He kissed her again, and moved over her—pinning her to the sheets with the weight of his body.

This breach of personal space was alarming. But for some reason, she found herself unwilling to fight him. Her skin prickled as his teeth grazed her neck.

"Forgive me…" He continued in a low voice. "Please…forgive me…"

"Why…?" She wanted to ask. The words caught in her throat as she opened her mouth to speak. "What are you doing to me? What happened to you…? What makes you think you have the right to…" Her mind was a wandering, frustrated mess as her uniform found itself on the other side of the room.

She didn't want this to happen—it didn't feel right after being given the cold shoulder for so long; they weren't even in a relationship. But she couldn't resist. It was as if her body had run away and left her mind to flounder helplessly without control.

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Andrea curled up beneath her covers, and let out a big yawn. She was tired and never wanted to wake up. With the world heading in its current direction, having a child would be shameful. What could she do about it, though? Nothing.

Three months ago, the full moon and Venomoid pheromones had claimed her victim to Saber. Tonight would be a full moon—that is, if it were visible through all the dust in the air. She shut her eyes and placed a hand on her stomach. "I'm so sorry you're going to have to be brought into such a terrible world…" Eventually she fell asleep.

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Ringo lay on his back in bed and stared up at the ceiling blankly, conscious slowly creeping back to him.

Destroy the Tekkaman named Lightsabre—before she can become a nuisance. Saber's words echoed in his mind hollowly.

Peering out the corner of his eye, he watched her sleep peacefully beside him. He sat up and stared down at her. There she was—he could easily kill her now. And then he could leave.

But…but something deep within his heart forbade him from doing so. A sudden pain split through his head as he was struck down with confusion. Why was he hesitating?

Squeezing his eyes shut he thrust his arm out and seized her by the neck.

Bonnie's eyes shot open, throat violently pressed shut. She gasped for air and trembled; Ringo was strangling her. Her eyes followed his arm in disbelief as it led to her neck. Surely it must have been a nightmare…

…But she wasn't waking up.

"Ri…chard…" She managed in a broken and barely audible voice. "Whyy…yy…" She clenched her teeth as he pressed harder. She managed to pry one of her arms out from beneath his knee and touched his wrist. She stared up into his purplish tinted blue eyes desperately. "Ri..chard…" Her vision began to darken as her conscious slipped away.

Richard…

…That name stirred a strange feeling deep within his heart. He looked at her with confusion, and slowly released his hold on her.

Bonnie coughed horridly as she tried to breathe. She looked up again as something cold and jelly-like landed on her cheek. Her eyes grew wide with horror as she looked up into Ringo's face once more. One eye was that strange blue tinted with purple…but the other one…was red. She felt a smoldering tingle as the mark of her crystal appeared on her forehead.

She gasped sharply as a faint blue light shone through his bangs matted to his face.

He blinked once, still confused as to what he should do.

"You're a Tekkaman!" Her voice croaked.

A cold shiver ran down her spine as she came to the harsh realization.

"SHUT UP!" He growled in a sudden fit of rage as he grabbed her throat and clenched as hard as he could.

"N-nooo…" Bonnie gasped. Her body bucked beneath his weight as she tried to escape. "Pl…ease…" Tears welled up in her eyes as she gazed into his now blood red eyes. "Ri…ch…ar…d…" She grasped his arm as a silent plea for release. Her vision started to black in and out again—she was going to die.

Ringo glared down at her with cold, unfeeling eyes as he tightened his grip. She was a stubborn creature—couldn't she just die already? It would make his job a whole lot easier.

A whole lot easier…

Did that mean that killing her was difficult?

"Yo…u…don…t…wan…to…do…thi…" He heard her struggle to say. "I…I…lo…ve…you…" She squinted her eyes and tried to swallow.

Those words…here she was, going to die…and her last words to him were…he was washed over with another wave of confusion. Why couldn't he kill her? He lifted his hand from her neck, and scoffed at his own weakness.

Bonnie rolled over onto her side and coughed miserably. She felt him get up off the bed.

"I don't know what just happened." He growled. "But next time I won't let you go—I promise…"

She turned to look at him from out the corner of her eye. Coughing some more, she sat up and watched in disbelief as he brought forth his crystal; it was blue—just like hers. And right before her very eyes, he tek-set and left.

Tears fell from her eyes like waterfalls as she stared at the Tekkaman-sized hole in the wall. Ringo, a Tekkaman? An evil, sided with the Venomoids Tekkaman. It just didn't register in her head. She fell out of bed and skittered down the halls to tell Andrea.

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"Okay. So tell me again why we're looking for survivors?" A man asked as he and a group of others dug through the heap of rubble that was once the Allied Military Defense.

"Good question, Bob. I doubt anyone could have survived." Another man responded.

"Well, it's pitch black out here—I can hardly even see my hand in front of my face! So, even if there were any, how would we know?" Bob asked.

"Another good one. Don't know."

"Keep looking!" The man in charge barked.

Suddenly a woman with short black hair wearing a business suit dashed onto the scene. "This is Connie Chung, reporting to you live just outside what used to be General Xerxes Gault's base of operations…"

A cameraman followed close behind.

"Excuse me, sir…would you mind answering a few questions?" She asked, gently tugging on the man in charge's sleeve.

The man turned around and snorted gruffly at the news reporter. "Can't you see we're a little busy right now?"

She scratched her head and began to ask questions.

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Balzac sat up in bed and looked around. It had been a month and ten days since he'd lost his battle with Saber and crash-landed back to Earth. Waking up to his surroundings, he heard a woman's voice echoing throughout the house. She sounded like a panic-stricken news reporter. Very slowly he got out of bed and made his way to the source of the sound.

There were his two caretakers, huddled around the television set like zombies. Rachel and her little brother Rick… If not for them, he wouldn't be alive today. They had found him out in the middle of nowhere when he was on the brink of death. "What's going on?" He asked.

Rick turned around with wide eyes. "You won't believe what happened!" He exclaimed. "The Space Ring just blew up, and now the whole world's going to plunge into darkness!"

Balzac nearly fainted. "What?"

Rachel motioned with her hand to shush. "The CNN woman is at one of the crash sites now." She said.

"…The…" Balzac's eyes widened with concern as he read the words on the bottom of the screen. His home…the base where he was practically raised, the place where he'd left his two best friends in the entire universe…was gone? Only a pile of mangled metal, dirt, and shattered glass remained.

Where he'd left his two best friends…

"Vitani! Marlow!" He exclaimed.

"Huh? Do you know someone that worked there?" Rick asked. He grew worried when Balzac began to tremble slightly.

"My…my…wife…my best friend…" He murmured, shaking his head. He didn't want to believe it—no way. But the picture on the TV screen was like a slap in the face by reality. He plunked down into a chair, ignoring the knifing pain that shot up his ribs. "You guys…you couldn't have left me…you couldn't…" Burying his head in his hands, he did his damnedest not to burst into tears.

"Hey look!" Rick shouted, leaping out of his chair. "There's a hand! I see a hand!"

Rachel shook her head. "No one could have survived that, Rick."

He pointed at the screen. "Look! Right there! It's alive! There's someone alive!"

"Oh my word!" Connie Chung exclaimed from the TV.

Balzac looked up as he heard the muffled voices of the rescue workers shouting.

"HEY! I GOT SOMEONE!"

He watched as the men started to push away more debris. His eyes widened further, as they pulled out two people. A man, and a woman. They both looked as if they'd been frightened beyond death. As the TV zoomed in closer while the reporter dashed over to ask questions, his heart stopped. He slid from the chair and collapsed to his knees in front of the television.

"Excuse me, do you mind telling us what happened?" The reporter asked.

The woman frowned, and brushed off her uniform. "What the fuck does it look like? WE'VE JUST BEEN BLOWN TO HELL!!!!" She screeched back.

Balzac knew that screech anywhere… Just as she looked like she was going to beat the shit out of the reporter woman, a hand touched her shoulder.

"Don't waste the energy." The man beside her said.

Balzac leapt to his feet, fists in the air. "They're alive! They're okay!"

Rick turned around to look at the ecstatic man standing behind him. "Who's okay? Do you know these people?"

He nodded in relief. "That woman's my wife. The guy standing next to her's my best friend."

Rachel tried her best to smile. "That's wonderful. I'm glad they made it out okay."

The reporter turned to Marlow. "Would you mind telling us how you managed to survive?"

Marlow looked at her strangely and pushed the camera away. "No comment. Come on, 'Tani." And with that, the two walked away.

Balzac knew where they were headed. Vitani hated the military. She'd always hated the military. She had showed no respect to Gault whatsoever, and held Jamison to the highest esteem. So, if his assumptions were correct, she'd be on her way to seek shelter with the Space Knights—and that's where he'd go, too.

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"Andrea?"

Andrea was lying in bed, fast asleep.

"Andy…"

Andrea rolled over and murmured something in her sleep.

Bonnie went into her room and shut the door behind her. "Andrea?" She asked again.

Andrea still said nothing.

Bonnie jumped up onto Andrea's bed, and grabbed her by the collar of her pajamas. "Andy Andy Andy!! WAKE UP!"

Andrea's purple eyes opened slightly as she was lifted into a sitting position. "Whatisit, Bun-ny…I'm…really sleepy…" She said in a tired slur.

Bonnie tried shaking her awake. "Andy, please…this is really important."

Andrea's head fell backwards into her shoulders as she fell asleep once more.

"Andrea…" Bonnie began in a scared voice choked with tears. "…Ringo's a Tekkaman…"

Andrea's eyes flew open. "What did you say?"

Bonnie nodded, and hung her head as she stared at her hands folded in her lap. She ignored the sharp pain in her neck. "I…was walking to my room, and…I end up finding myself in his room instead, and then… And then I fell asleep, thinking that whatever it was that had been bothering him was gone… And then, I wake up to find…to find…"

Bonnie paused as she tried to regain control over her wounded emotions. "To find him…sitting on my chest and…choking me…Ringo tried to kill me, Andy! But for whatever strange reason, he let me go. Not once, but twice. The first time he let me go, he looked as if he were sorting out his thoughts, and then he got frustrated and grabbed my throat again. But the second time he let me go, he got up and left…I saw his eyes, Andy…and the marking of my crystal appeared on my forehead…"

Andrea took in a deep breath, and let it out slowly. "Well, that explains how Saber knew that the Blue Earth was just a diversion. What do you want to bet that was Ringo's problem all along. The day he left to his sister's, he never made it. He was caught by the Venomoids along the way, and sent back to us one of them…he was leaking information right under our noses…"

Bonnie sniffled. "We've got to get him back…somehow I have this feeling that he's struggling inside. I can't explain it very well, but…"

Andrea nodded. "I think you're starting to come to grips with your telepathic bond…let me ask you this: when you passed by his room, did your nose pick up anything?"

Bonnie nodded. "It smelled kinda cinnamon-y. And then it was like I had no control over my body at all…he had his way with me; I didn't want it, but I couldn't complain."

Andrea sighed. "Venomoid pheromones."

"Huh?" Bonnie asked.

"Well, how do you think the Venomoids keep their species going?"

Bonnie scratched her head. "You mean, like how some animals go into heat?" She wondered in slight disgust.

Andrea shrugged. "Something to that degree, anyway. Around every 29 days, which coincidentally falls around every full moon here on Earth, both sexes release a faint scent to attract their mate—"

Bonnie shook her head. "Wait, wait, wait…I feel as if I'm a giraffe on a wild documentary here. You mean to tell me that…me and Ringo didn't hit the sack together because we felt like it? It was because…"

Andrea tilted her head to the side. "Well, DID you feel like getting laid at that particular moment? No, I meant, did you want to get laid at that particular moment in time?"

Bonnie knit her brows together in thought. "Well, in my mind I didn't want to…it was like my body…had…a mind…of its own—oh my god! I was in heat! I've turned into a real bitch!"

Andrea shrugged. "Well, if you ask me, ALL Venomoids are dogs anyway. And since we've been doomed to tap into their power, well, you can expect weird little quirks like this. I should know…"

Bonnie nodded sympathetically. "Saber's a little bitch too." She clasped her hand over her mouth. "Oh no…"

Andrea placed a hand on her shoulder for comfort. "Yes, unfortunately. Now we're both stuck bringing children into this wasted world. What a terrible future they have to look forward to…nothing but a long, and gruesome war."

Bonnie shook her head sadly. "We're gonna win. I know it. We have to!" She then sighed, her head sinking back into her shoulders. "I just…I don't want to…oh Ringo…I'm so sorry…no one deserves to go through the mental hell you're going through right now…"

She looked up, lost. "What did I just say?"

Andrea strengthened her hold on Bonnie's shoulder. "Now that this has happened… Let's put it this way: When you start to hear voices in your head, you're not going schizo."

Bonnie nodded sadly. "I think I need to go to bed."

Andrea turned on her lamp and winced at Bonnie's neck; it was bruised terribly. "He got you bad…"

Bonnie slowly shook her head. "No, the parasite got me bad. I failed once…I can't fail again. I can be skewered over and over, I can be thrown down and burnt by the fires of hell—but I'm not going to give up." She got up off the bed, and walked towards the door. "Good night. I'll go to the infirmary in the morning…oh…please don't tell CJ that I'm probably…"

Andrea waved an assuring hand. "I won't. Good night." As soon as Bonnie was in her room, she left to go tell the Commander of the traitor amongst their ranks, incase he should ever return.

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"YOU LET HER GO!?" Cain snarled angrily as he punched his lackey in the gut. "I TOLD YOU TO KILL HER!"

Ringo fell to his knees in pain, and replied, "What's the fun in it if there's no torture involved?"

Cain snatched him by his blonde hair and threw his head against the nearby wall of the Argos. "The next time you see her, kill her. I don't care if it bores you to death—I want her DEAD. "

Ringo scoffed. "If you want her dead so badly, then how come you haven't done anything?"

Cain kicked him in the side as hard as he could. "Still have a mouth on you, I see." Pulling out his crystal, he grinned evilly. "I guess I'll just have to fix that."

If watching Bonnie suffer wasn't his favorite thing to do, now that his brother was gone, then beating down his 'replacement' was a close second. It was a way of getting personal revenge for being burnt. His anger inflamed further when he noticed Richards smelled of her, if only faintly.

"…" Cain narrowed his eyes. After he tek-set, he was going to beat the living hell out of him—a fitting punishment for a disobedient dog.

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A/N: Connie Chung will never die.