Chapter Twenty One: Guilty

Gerlit answered the transmission. "This is Master Gerlit. To who am I speaking?"

"This is Zordon of Eltar. I am transmitting to inform the Alliance that Vile did not take the bait. We arrived on the Deserted Planet and were attacked by a group of monsters. We believe he was tipped off somehow. We are worried. We think he may be close to discovering the Zeo Crystal's true location."

The Liarian Gerlit began to answer Zordon, but noticed no audio was being transmitted from his end. Gerlit opened a dialog box, trying to find what the cause of the communication block was. He tried sending a message to Burai on his wrist tech, who had recently set up a new firewall for the Alliance's communications. The message flashed with a delivery failure.

Gerlit began to waddle to the other room where Animus and Magnus were trying to occupy themselves, when he froze. He felt something odd. He pulled out his key to protect himself, but it was too late: he found himself in the middle of several explosions. He created a barrier around himself to be shielded from the explosion's debris and rubble. When the dust settled, he could hear Animus and Magnus each summon their Defender armor from behind the rubble of what once had been the wall separating the two rooms.

Footsteps could be heard in the outer corridors. The armor plated beasts came in. Their armor's copper coloring stood out sharply against the mostly white environment of the Morphing Masters' headquarters. Adding another aspect to the destruction they were causing, the mud from their metal boots could be seen tracked through the building. The sanctity of the Alliance had once again been desecrated.

The leader of these troops pranced through the building, an air of arrogance permeating the air around her. She stopped, lips pouting. She crossed her arms and looked around. Then, like the spoiled princess she was, she stamped her feet and started shouting.

"Piranhatrons! Where are my chocolates!?" The dreaded pirate, Divatox, yelled.

Two henchman hurriedly ran and cordially presented her a box of chocolates. She yanked the box away, then kicked one of the Piranhatrons in the chest, causing it to fall down. She continued her march down the halls after that, munching on her chocolates as she surveyed the chaos her surprise attack was causing.

One soldier ran toward her, a blade in hand. She casually ducked his attack, following the maneuver with a kick to the face, all the while not spilling her treats.

"Idiot..." She muttered, rolling her eyes.

She turned a corner to find Gerlit fighting his way through Piranhatrons. He fired laser lights from his key, while also casting protection barriers around himself when necessary. He ducked under a table and rolled out to the other side, avoiding several stomps from the enemies around him.

"These guys can't do anything right..." She complained as she trotted over to the scene, cautiously walking around the mess to not get her boots dirty.

Divatox punched a pillar in the room, causing the ceiling to collapse on Gerlit and a unit of Piranhatrons. She chuckled to herself, pleased with her ingenuity. Making her way to the two Defenders, she observed the scene. They were starting to get exhausted from the sheer number of enemies they were encountering. Magnus was equipped with his sword, while Animus wielded his double bladed lance.

Magnus switched to using his blaster due to fatigue. His aim was off, so it wasn't doing him much but create in his mind the thought that he would at least fall trying. Animus twirled his weapon, eliminating some of the foes around him. He looked over to see his friend close to defeat.

Not on my watch! The valiant hero thought to himself.

"Magnus: hold on!" Animus yelled as he rushed toward his fellow Morphing Master. He pushed and fought his way forward.

Divatox smiled as she watched him cross the room, lunging toward his failing comrade. Her eyes began to glow. She focused on the Dark Magic she had been given by her adopted parents, which amplified the natural tap her biological family's genes gave her to the Morphing Grid. Laser beams shot out of her eyes, hitting the Animal Defender hard.

"Ahhh!" Animus yelled.

"Animus!" Magnus proclaimed as he blasted Piranhatrons. They began rushing to the fallen Morphing Master, wishing to be the one to land the final blow.

"...Animus... No!"

Magnus saw the henchmen running with assorted weapons toward Animus. Some were mallets, others were simple metal bars. He tried getting to his friend, but couldn't shake off the beasts piling atop him. He could hear the weapons' continual clinkings and bangings against the Animal Defender armor. He could hear the armor begin to give way, as the sound of metal on metal became the sound of metal to skin.

Divatox approached Magnus, still chewing on chocolates. Swallowing, she looked down at the mighty man.

"Take a nap." She commanded as she kicked him, her foot connecting with his jaw.

He blacked out.

"Nice work, Divatox!" Someone said as they teleported into the room.

"Rita! Darling! How good it is to see you again! I was sure I would have to deal with that dreadful brother of yours again!" Divatox made her way to the witch. They each kissed each other on the face as a greeting.

Rita explained that her time undercover at the Academy was over, and she would have a more hands on role from then on out. Rita then looked at the body on the ground. Divatox followed suit before asking a question.

"Is he...?"

"As a doorknob!" Rita proclaimed with victory in her voice.

"Should we finish these other two?" Divatox asked, referencing Gerlit and Magnus.

Rita shook her head. "No. I want witnesses of our power to tell the Masters what we did. Plus, there is the second part of this plan..." She said, winking to her friend.

"Ah, yes! How could I forget!" She said, laughing.

Rita nodded. "I'll set up the pieces here. Thanks for everything and hopefully I will see you later."

"Okay, darling. Ciao. Piranhatrons!? Move out! Viva la diva!" Divatox declared.

As she and her minions teleported back to their fleet floating in orbit in space, they were completely invisible to the Alliance's radar system. That was due to Rita's inside informant...

Magnus awoke, looking around. He didn't see any Piranhatrons in the vicinity, but he kept his guard up. As he stood, he moved his jaw around in his helmet. It was still sore from the kick he received from the Space Diva.

As he searched the area, he saw a familiar figure. He spotted the Gold Ranger looming over Animus' lifeless corpse. With all his might, he drew his blade.

"Come fight me. I still have enough left in me to send you to the Afterlife. Even if it means I must make the same journey myself." He said, confidence saturating his voice.

The Gold Ranger turned and laughed. The warrior got into a fighting stance, ready to fight.

"Stop right there!"

Magnus turned when he heard Orion's familiar voice. Accompanying him were Masters Michael and Zordon, along with Commander Rahp and his troops. Rahp looked over the scene, shocked to see the heart of the Alliance struck again.

"Take this, you menace!"

A blast of purple lightning surrounded and blasted the Gold Ranger. Grunting, the Gold Ranger quickly stood back up before raising an arm and teleporting away in a flash of gold light. Surprised, the group turned to find Master Ivicar, Master Gerlit being carried on his shoulders.

"I found Gerlit in the rubble." Ivicar said as he lowered the unconscious Liarian to the floor near the others. "I rushed over as soon as I heard more commotion in here."

Orion's personal medic, Tideus, ran over and took Master Gerlit to the side to minister to his wounds. King Estro then entered the room, shaking his head as he looked around. He approached Ivicar.

"I finished looking around and could not find any signs of anymore enemies in the area."

Ivicar nodded. He then proceeded to call the Masters in the room to gather around him. He looked at each one of them. He pulled a small device from his robe pocket. He extended his arm enough to let all around him see.

"What is it?" Master Michael asked.

"I found it in the room Gerlit was in. It's an implosion device." Ivicar answered.

"So? What does that mean? We know they blew the building up." Orion said, wondering why Ivicar was treating this with such gravitas.

Ivicar dropped his head. "I believe this is incriminating evidence. It points to who the traitor is within our ranks."

All the while, Zordon had been inspecting the piece of equipment. He recognized the markings as soon as Ivicar had produced it from his robe. Zordon looked away from the group, realizing what Ivicar was about to say.

Ivicar looked at each of them, sorrow replacing the look of warmth his eyes usually carried. "This device is made in only way place... Edenoi. I know of only one Edenite who has access to these chambers..."

Magnus, with what little strength he had left, punched the wall beside him. "That's ridiculous! How could you insinuate...!?"

Orion placed a hand on Magnus' shoulder. "I know you two are close, but we need to take the evidence into consideration..."

Ivicar nodded. "Yes. As soon as he arrives, Master Kamen must be detained and brought in for questioning. He is wanted on suspicions of treason."