Dustin sighed as he sat down. Kardan had suggested he get his name engraved in gold on the chair because of how often he was sitting in it. Dustin hoped Sebastien wasn't down that long. He was spending a lot of time beside the kid's bed. He didn't want Sebastien to wake up alone. The only time he left the infirmary willingly was to go to the restroom. Hunter had to force him to eat and sleep. The only way Dustin did that was if someone else was sitting with Sebastien. He really didn't want the kid to wake up alone.
"You might be lucky today lad, he's twitched a few times." Kardan said. "All his vitals are lookin' nice he should be wakin' any day now."
"He isn't in a coma, right?" Dustin asked, glancing briefly at the doctor.
"Nay lad, just sleepin' while his body heals."
Dustin nodded and looked down at Sebastien only to see a pair of crystal blue eyes watching him. "Hey, how do you feel?"
"Ugh." Sebastien grunted. His eyes closed briefly before slowly opening again. "Water?"
Dustin glanced questioningly at Kardan and found the doctor already filling a glass. Kardan brought the water over and they both watched as Sebastien slowly drank. He seemed to be trying to avoid something and Dustin knew what. Sebastien didn't want to talk about all the things that had been revealed. Dustin didn't blame him, but it needed to be discussed.
"Sebastien?"
The sixteen year old swallowed the last of the water. "Yeah?"
"We need to talk. Not now, but sometime soon."
"Why wait?" Sebastien said with a sigh. "It's out there I might as well talk about it now. Get it over with instead of brewing over it."
"Why turn to drugs?" Dustin asked. "Was your home life that bad?"
"Not everyone who does drugs does it because of a bad home life." Sebastien replied. He laughed humorlessly. "My brothers would give me an earful if they knew."
"You haven't answered my question. Why drugs?" Dustin asked, this time more serious than before.
Sebastien bit his lip and let out a long sigh. "My parents were pushing my training really hard. They said I had more natural ability than any of by brothers, except C...except one. They didn't want me to follow my brothers and leave the Academy." He paused for a moment as if trying to decide what to say next. "I found a box in their room. A box full of letters my brothers had been writing me for years. I thought they had simply forgotten me, but it turns out my parents were hiding everything including birthday cards and a few presents. I was furious. I confronted them and all they had to say was I had no right poking around in their room." Sebastien's face grew dark. "I began to rebel against them. I skipped classes and would come home at late hours. I froze my tutor out of the room so many times she refused to teach me anymore. I got into fights with other students at the Academy. Then I started going to parties."
"Did you get a tattoo and piercings too?" Dustin asked, trying to lighten the mood.
Sebastien snorted. "Can't get those without parent permission."
"Right, sorry, go ahead."
"At this point even my girlfriend was getting fed up with me. When I started sneaking out at night to go to parties and coming back late at night drunk and/or high she drew the line. She broke up with me."
"Why did you start using drugs in the first place?" Dustin asked. "I still don't understand why you would start."
"Peer pressure. It started with weed, but I was quickly introduced to a better and cheaper drug. Hammer."
"I've never heard of it." Dustin said with a frown.
"I wouldn't be surprised. It's fairly new to the market. It's the perfect drug. There's so many ways to take it and it's very, very cheap. It's the cheapest thing out there except for maybe over the counter meds." Sebastien explained. "Unfortunately, it's also very, very addictive. First hit and you're hooked and it has the worst withdrawal."
"You went through your withdrawal alone, didn't you?"
Sebastien winced, remembering the pain and agony. "Yeah, I did. It was the hardest thing I've ever done, but I blamed the drugs for not being there to help protect the Academy. Despite everything my parents have done to my brothers and me, I still love them. And Heather...I think I love her too and I wasn't there to protect any of them."
"They're still alive on Lothor's ship." Dustin replied. "We'll get them back, don't worry."
Sebastien was silent for a while. Dustin worried that his friend was going to pull back into his shell and that all his hard work had been for nothing. But his worrying was for nothing as Sebastien broke the silence.
"What was it like, having your Sensei give you your powers?"
Dustin smiled fondly at the memory. "Well, first there was the exhilaration of being able to say 'I told ya so' to Shane and Tori, because they didn't believe in Power Rangers. Then I realized that I was joining an elite group of protectors who put their lives on the line to keep the planet safe. I had never felt more proud or so humbled with the extent of what I had to live up to. But I was bound and determined not to let it change me and to be the light side when things got dark."
"Wow." Sebastien rubbed his face tiredly. "I never got that honor. My Sensei didn't present me with my power like yours did. I know for a fact he wouldn't have given it to me."
"Why, because you were a little misguided?"
"No, because I beat the living crap out of his son."
"Oh."
"But I was defending my brothers' honor." Sebastien added. "I think that's the only reason I wasn't kicked out of the Academy."
The conversation moved easily to a lighter topic. Sebastien seemed happy enough to talk about his brothers, though he completely avoided the subject of his missing brother. Dustin asked, but didn't push it when Sebastien evaded the question. Eventually Sebastien fell asleep again and Dustin felt a little better. When Kardan suggested he go eat lunch with the others, the Yellow Ranger went without protest. Kardan smiled and tucked the blankets around the young White Ranger before going to eat as well.
ZzZzZ
It was a dark planet even before Mikiha stopped her armada there. Anasis III was dead save for two beings. One was a being so dark and evil that Mikiha could sense him even in passing. He was her reason for stopping. She wanted him, needed him on her side. The other had a connection to the Gems of Power and that made the being nothing more than a pawn. Mikiha ordered the armada to stand by while she used her energy form to go down to the planet and confront the two.
What she found didn't surprise her. The two beings were fighting one another. The evil, being was one she recognized as a Dark Ranger, but she knew from the information she had stolen from the fools that set her free that the new term was Rogues. This one seemed darker than any she had ever seen before and more than that she could sense a great many ranger powers concealed within him.
The other was something new to her. It looked like a ranger, but was quite different. She sensed a deep connection to a Gem of Power, but that made no sense. Rangers, especially those who drew power from the Morphing Grid, could not use the Gems of Power. How then was this one morphed like a Ranger? The answer came from the knowledge she'd stolen. Psycho Ranger, huh? That might come in handy.
Without much effort Mikiha reached out to the Gem of Power in the Psycho Ranger's suit and caused a ripple in the power. The blue armored warrior faltered and the dark adversary took advantage and struck out catching the Psycho Ranger with a stiff kick to the face. The Blue Psycho Ranger went down hard and the dark Rogue moved to stand over the fallen warrior.
"Come now Aurias, you didn't really think it would be that easy did you?" The Rogue questioned tauntingly. "And you have only yourself to blame for what befell your home world. You sent me there."
"You took advantage of me!" Aurias snarled. "You dog-faced rat, I thought you really cared."
"Then it is your fault for forgetting who you were dealing with."
"As interesting as all this is, I'm afraid I'm going to have to break this up." Mikiha said, striding forward. She smiled darkly at the Rogue as the dark armored ex-ranger snapped his head up to look at her.
"You're a Dohri." The Rogue said, surprised by her sudden appearance. "What do you want?"
"To offer you a position in my army." Mikiha replied.
"And if I refuse?"
"I think you already know the answer to that."
The Rogue was quiet for a few moments before he started to laugh. "Does your army come with benefits?"
"You get to enjoy causing as much havoc as you wish in return you obey my every command." Mikiha replied.
"I already create as much havoc as I want. You're going to have to try a little harder than that."
"I'll humor you, simply because I like a Ranger gone bad. With me you can reach planets you never knew existed with more Ranger teams to decimate than you could ever reach on your own."
"Now that's tempting." The Rogue said. He then laughed again, a dark and menacing sound, before bowing low. "Shadow Rogue, at your services M'lady."
Mikiha nodded before turning her attention to the fallen Psycho Ranger. "Now you, get to your feet."
Aurias felt her own body betray her as she got to her feet without any control. She felt a terrible flashback from when Samous had become a Holder. He hadn't been one long enough to fully grasp his new powers, but the one she was suddenly faced with had been a Holder for a long time. This Holder had complete control of her power and apparently knew how to control others through their Gems.
"You will serve me as well." Mikiha said, forcing Aurias to walk toward her. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way."
Aurias's rebellious nature instantly flared and for a moment she thought of telling the crazy Holder to shove it, but her instincts kept her quiet. She was in a no win situation. The Holder could control her easily no matter if she wanted to obey commands or not. Her best bet now was to play along and wait for the perfect chance to get away.
"I'll serve you." Aurias finally said.
"Good. Now, tell me about your wayward teammate. I think a Crimson Psycho Ranger will make a perfect addition to my army."
ZzZzZ
"You stubborn old fools! Peace will never come to this world while you clutch onto old ways like the close minded buzzards you are!"
"Ambassador Terik, might we remind you that it wasn't too long ago you were banished!" Minister Erenis boomed.
"Might I remind you that it was through me that we've found a cure for the Plague? Do I need to remind you that I was appointed by popular vote on BOTH sides to be the Peace Ambassador?" Terik thundered. "I WILL bring peace to our war torn planet even if I have to rally for re-elections on BOTH sides!"
"You ask too much too quick. There are years of hatred and bad blood that cannot be dispelled as quickly as you wish." Prime Minister Sonnal said, trying to bring order back to the assembly that was quickly getting out of control.
"It's not as hard as you'd like to make it out to be." Terik replied. "The People want peace. It's only the military and weapons corporations on both sides that want the war to continue."
"In case you've forgotten Ambassador, the People don't run the country." Erenis sneered.
Terik's whole demeanor quickly changed. A dark look crossed his face and he turned a fierce glare on the Minister that had once been his ruler. "No Minister, I haven't forgotten. Nor have I forgotten how you ordered the ambush on the peace treaty years ago or how you ordered the execution of any of the males in our country who refused to fight. No, Minister Erenis, unfortunately for you I have a very good memory."
The assembly erupted into outrage. Both sides were furious. Even Erenis's own people hadn't known about the ambush. Terik shot a satisfied smirk at the Minister as a cry for justice went around the room. He knew that without Erenis constantly trying to disrupt the peace talks a lot more was going to be accomplished.
Terik opened his mouth to say something more when he felt a tug on his shirt. Glancing to the side he saw his new assistant looking anxious. "Ambassador, a message was just received for you from someone named Aurias."
"What did she say?" Terik demanded.
"She said back to Earth."
"Back to Earth?" Terik repeated. "Why would she go back there? No matter, prepare a shuttle I'm leaving as soon as I'm finished here."
"Yes Ambassador."
ZzZzZ
"Do you realize at this rate we're going to fail high school?" Tori commented that night at dinner.
"In all the commotion I completely forgot about school." Shane mused. "What are we going to do? We can't fail school."
"School is important." Sensei agreed. "However, I fear there is nothing to be done about it. You are not safe if you are unmorphed."
"Our secret identities should have been from everyone, especially the bad guys." Tori said.
"At least our parents know where we are." Dustin said. "I'm glad you allowed us to tell them the truth Sensei."
"Lying is not the way of the Wind Ninja." Sensei replied easily. "They needed to know where you are and why you cannot return home."
"But we can't tell the school that." Shane said.
"No, you cannot." Sensei agreed.
"Did you guys have this kind of problem?" Tori asked, looking at some of the alien Rangers.
"On our planet Rangers were honored as great warriors, but we had no need to keep our identities secret." Kardan replied. "I don't fully understand why it's of such importance here."
"Because we would be hassled by everyone. We wouldn't have a real life anymore." Shane explained. "Our identities have to remain secret."
"You could home school." Sebastien suggested, glad to have been allowed out of the infirmary for dinner. "Your parents know you're Rangers, I'm sure they wouldn't mind doing all the paperwork."
Sensei nodded his approval. "That is a good idea Sebastien."
"Well, that's one problem solved. Now we just need to come up with a plan to defeat Kalix once and for all." Hunter said.
Dustin carefully scrutinized his teammates and then the rest of the Rangers. The mood was solemn and felt oppressive. Something needed to be done. He knew just what to do.
Hunter jumped as something wet and slimy struck his cheek. He reached up his hand and wiped his face and looked down at the mix of mashed potatoes and corn. His eyes narrowed slightly and he looked across the table at the person he knew was responsible. The Yellow Ranger was trying to look innocent as he ate. At first Hunter thought about snapping at him for being so childish, but he quickly realized what Dustin was trying to do. The biting remark died instantly and instead he decided to fight fire with fire. He used his spoon to gather a heap of some kind of alien vegetable and then flicked it at the Yellow Ranger.
Unfortunately his aim was off just enough to not only catch Dustin, but Tori as well. The Blue Ranger's head snapped up and she glowered at him as pieces of the pink vegetable stuck in her hair. Hunter's eyes went wide and he ducked his head as she threw her roll at him. The roll struck Sebastien instead. The White Ranger flicked a spoonful of gravy all over both Dustin and Tori. Blake stood up from his position on the other side of Tori and beamed Sebastien with another roll, apparently defending Tori. Not to be left out Shane took the opportunity to fling some of his own mashed potatoes, which struck Hunter on the other side of his face. With that the food fight began in earnest.