Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers, although I will claim Angel Raven and Elekdreadin and the Aurin Collegium for my own.
A/N: Two-fer guys! Enjoy. Not sure why I like using Namaste for Elek, but it worked for him, I guess. Any awkward phrasing from him is because English is not his first or second language.
Shane frowned as he followed Tori into Ninja Ops, Cam was sitting at the super computer doing something involving the image of a blond haired man, "What is it," Dustin asked from behind him, "did you find a killer video on YouTube to share with us?"
Cam turned, "Not exactly, Dustin." He typed a command, making the video full screen, "This is Elekdreadin of Amarantha, an old friend of Angel Raven and a Ranger-Elect. Elekdreadin, these are the Wind Rangers, Shane Clark, Tori Hanson and Dustin Brooks."
The man focused on Shane, his blue eyes intense, "Namaste, Rangers," He bowed his head slightly, "I thank you for taking time to meet with me."
"You're friends with Angel?" Shane blurted out. He felt Dustin's shoulder brush his own, when he glanced at his friend, the yellow ranger had an odd look on his face.
"Correct," Elek replied, "we attended the Aurin Collegium together for three years, she is my best friend and near enough to a sister as well." He glanced down for a moment and adjusted his black and yellow tunic slightly, almost nervously.
"Then why are you calling us?" Dustin said, when everyone looked at him, he waved his hand slightly, "No offense, dude, but she's not exactly playing on the side of the good guys."
"That is precisely why," Elek said, "something is wrong. I am a psychic, it is a common trait of my people. Specifically, I am a telepath and Empath; that is, I can sense thoughts and emotions when I am around others and unshielded, or in close physical contact. Today, I came to see Angel Raven because she had left the Collegium at the behest of the Warlord, her father, before her final tests were properly evaluated. I brought the official copy of her completion and certification as a pilot navigator." He paused, "You must understand, I have spent three years in close company with Angel. We have done many things together and I have learned the feel of her mind as well as I know my twin. Today, I spent time in the company of a woman who was both my best friend and she was not. Something happened."
"We are aware," Shane said quietly, he cleared his throat, "we were made aware of Angel's predicament, as well as that of two others."
"Then why have you not done something about it?" Elek demanded.
"Because we do not know how to reverse it," Sensei announced, arriving on the super computer consol with a neat flip, "Lothor, the Warlord, he has used the very dark powers that saw him banned from Earth to create a mental doppelganger in Raven's mind that controls her and leads her to fight against us."
"The Warlord was truly banned?" Elek asked.
"Indeed," Sensei replied.
"Angel told me he was framed," Elek said, "that it was part of why they were attacking Earth. She says she has seen proof of this, and that the man who murdered her mother was hired by the one they seek to fight and finally that Angel's own history came about because of that man." He paused, "She also told me that the Rangers that serve the Warlord do so because the same man killed their parents."
"That's not possible," Tori said.
Shane glanced over at Dustin, who shook his head slightly. Angel had managed to warn them about the Thunder Rangers, but not their identities. They had suspected that whoever the Rangers were, they were Lothor's other targets. It sounded like that theory was about to be proved right.
Elek lifted his hand, "I know that. Angel does to, or she did. She told me about her mother once, how she was murdered in what was essentially a random act of violence. I don't believe the rest of it because of what I was reading off her at the time. Whatever has happened, Angel still exists, and I have no doubt that she is fighting for her freedom in any way she can." He paused and sighed, "She is not psychic as I am, but she is trained to deal with psychic intrusions. I trained her myself."
"She's broken through before," Shane offered, "she has showed up at night a few times and once she got control back when we knocked her unconscious, but she's never been sure of her control. It's always been for a moment or two then she's gone."
Elek nodded, "Then what ever it was that created the doppelganger is too strong for Angel right now."
"Some spells," Sensei said, "grow stronger when they are cast in groups of three. We know that the spell on Angel has two other hosts, the Thunder Rangers."
"That's why they felt off," Elek exclaimed, "I can't believe I didn't see it at first." He looked away for a long moment, "Yes, a spell times three would be too strong for an ungifted, albeit trained, person to defeat for very long. There has to be a way to weaken the spell, if only one of the three had true abilities, I could…" Elek trailed off, then sighed, "No I couldn't. I have to go, I'm almost home. I just wanted to see if I could help in any way. I hope I did."
"You aren't coming to Earth?" Tori asked.
"I cannot," Elek replied, "I have to go home to help my people. One of our Rangers died and I need to be there for the ceremony to select his successor."
"I am sorry for your loss," Sensei said.
"Thank you," Elek said. "I hope that you will be successful in freeing Angel from her curse."
The screen went blank.
"Ok," Dustin said, "did we learn anything from that?"
"Yes," Shane said, "we learned that we have to free all three of Lothor's spell people, but that it will be hard. We already knew that, but it's nice to have confirmation."
"We have also learned that there are people who care for Angel Raven," Sensei said quietly, "and who wish to see her freed unharmed."
"I wonder who is waiting for the others," Dustin murmured.
Shane clenched his fists in reflection to the sudden clenching of his heart.