Mesogog sat, still as a statue, on his chair in the main laboratory. Elsa and Fealdor were off working on their plans to subdue the Rangers; Zeltrax stood silent and stoic near the genome randomizer. None of his underlings were his concern at the moment - at the moment he was fighting his inner demon, Anton Mercer. Increasingly, Mesogog was the dominant personality in control of the body he shared with Mercer, but Mercer was never silent and struggled to break free at the most inopportune moments. Mesogog was too close to victory and permanent freedom from Mercer to give in to his human side now.
Those who served him knew better than to disturb Mesogog when he was so internally focused, so it was a shock to him when his awareness was invaded by an unfamiliar presence – unfamiliar but anticipated. The visitor has returned.
With utter single-mindedness, Mesogog attuned his thoughts and bent his will to preventing the unknown assailant from making contact with those inside the fortress. Earlier, Mesogog had been inattentive, not expecting the Rangers to use a mental means of communication – they had never evidenced abilities like that before. When the same unknown presence made contact with the Rangers he was unable to prevent them from communicating, but he did make it extremely difficult for them to maintain contact by pouring his own mental energies into the shield that was protecting them and preventing him from knowing what was said. Ever since that initial assault he'd been anticipating another, but this time he was prepared to stop it.
He found the futility of this new enemy somewhat amusing to watch, but was puzzled at the lack of power at hand. When contact had been made earlier, it had a different "flavor" – there was much more raw power involved. This time around there was still that feeling of the controlled mind, but it seemed lacking. And watching Tommy Oliver attempt to get past the barrier on his side was a joke; though Mercer was sympathetic to his plight and wanted him to break through.
When the power behind Tommy pushed him through the shield, Mesogog was enraged and immediately attempted to cut him off from returning to his body. But something stood in his way – again, it was unfamiliar, but it had a definite "red" aura. Mesogog tried repeatedly to slam the gap shut but was thwarted by the energy attempting to breech it. In the end, it wasn't he who removed the barrier, it was the other. And Tommy had successfully managed to return to himself. Damn that human!
Screaming in inhuman frustration, Mesogog leapt to his feet and opened an invisaportal directly before him. Stepping through he vanished in an instant.
Elsa strode down to the main lab, confidence increasing with each step. The more she thought about her plan, the more convinced she became that not only would it work, but that it would be so successful that she would certainly retain her position as Mesogog's right hand after the world had been returned to its former glory. She was so wrapped up in her train of thought that she didn't notice Mesogog in his chair when she entered the lab. She simply focused on searching for the jar containing the ingredient she needed; the blue one she was reminded of when she looked at the beaker in her lab.
So intent was Elsa on finding what she was looking for that she actually jumped when Mesogog gave a guttural yell. Whirling she turned to face him. He was standing in front of his throne, and was so angry that the bone plate above and between his eyes was glowing. He always looked like that right before he inflicted one of his mental punishments on her or Zeltrax. Elsa scanned the lab in dismay; she was the only one there…but she hadn't done anything wrong!
"My lord…" she began weakly. Mesogog ignored her completely, and opened an invisaportal directly in front of where he was standing. Without a word he stepped through and vanished.
Elsa let out the breath she'd been holding, and leaned against the table that was closest to hand. She willed her frantically beating heart to slow down. Not angry at me…he's not angry at me. I did nothing to displease him. I will not end up like Zeltrax.
The lab's sliding door snapped her out of her own thoughts as the Tyranodrones she had sent for began to assemble. She turned away from them determined not to show weakness; Elsa brought her mind back to the task at hand. She scanned another shelf, this one above and to her right. And there it was! The element she'd been seeking. Gently she reached up to grasp the container. As she brought it down to her eye level, the confidence that has been shaken by Mesogog's unexpected outburst began to return. She smiled to herself as she turned toward the Tyranodrones – she would not fail.
Fealdor smiled in satisfaction. The circumstances weren't exactly what he'd envisioned, but in the end, the former Yellow Ranger was unconscious and that's what he wanted. He ordered one drone to pick up Dustin and place him on the cot, while the other kept Dr. Oliver out of the way. Whatever the prisoners had been doing when Fealdor and Elsa had come in was apparently very disorienting. Even after the boy was drugged and moved to a bed, Tommy still hadn't fully roused, though it was clear he was struggling to come to consciousness. But he was not Fealdor's concern.
Fealdor was preparing to take one last reading before leaving the boy to sleep when the door to the cell crashed open revealing an enraged Mesogog standing before a shrinking invisaportal. Fealdor's heart leapt into his throat as he tried to imagine what had brought Mesogog here in such a rage. Tommy, too, sensed the danger and attempted to stagger to his feet.
"What have you done, Black Ranger?" Mesogog intoned as he strode into the room.
Tommy was still trying to clear his head and didn't respond. Kanoi has pretty much ripped the details about what had been going on from his head, then shoved all the information he had about the plans the Rangers were making into Tommy's consciousness. It was painful and Topmmy hadn't had enough time to process everything. Dustin's panic attack didn't help either. As it was, he could barely manage to make out what Mesogog was saying.
"Who have you called in to help you?" Mesogog didn't give Tommy as chance to answer before unleashing a searing bolt of mental energy into Tommy's brain. With his mental shields so scrambled after the encounter with Kanoi, Tommy could do nothing to defend himself. He screamed, fell back to the floor and drew himself into a ball attempting to escape the excruciating pain. Mesogog maintained the energy for a few more seconds before he severed the connection; Tommy was left gasping and panting on the floor.
"I will learn what you know, Dr. Oliver." threatened Mesogog as he reached down and grabbed Tommy by his throat. Effortlessly he pulled Tommy off the floor and off of his feet. Helplessly Tommy dangled in Mesogog's grasp. Black spots flooded his vision as Mesogog's talon closed around his throat and his oxygen was cut off.
Quick as a flash, Mesogog whirled and slammed Tommy against the wall, never loosening his grip. Mesogog stood as close as a lover initiating an embrace. He dropped his voice to a sinuous whisper, "Do you think you can hide your thoughts from me?" Tommy couldn't make a verbal response; he was too busy struggling to breathe.
Mesogog released some of the pressure pinning Tommy to the wall, enough to allow his feet to slip down and support his weight. Ignoring his victim for the moment Mesogog turned to Fealdor and the Tyranodrones still in the room. "Dr. Oliver thinks he can circumvent my plan. His allies will not be able to defeat me. I will not be denied!" he ended in a roar. He pointed to the Tyranodrone nearest to the cot. "Take the boy now and put him in the energy chamber."
Without hesitation the drone lifted Dustin and tossed him over his shoulder like a rag doll. Fealdor worriedly input data into his scanner and followed the drone out of the room, mincing after him like a mother hen. Fealdor looked back in horror as Mesogog elicited another scream from the Black Ranger. His own thoughts were racing as he followed the drone down to the main lab.
We can't drain the boy like this! The chamber will kill him outright and we will be no better off than we were a few hours ago. Then Mesogog will kill me! I have to make him understand…I have to make him listen. I never should've drugged the boy…what did the Black Ranger do to make him so mad?
Mesogog unleashed bolt after bolt of mental energy into Tommy until the Black Ranger was unconscious and shuddering helplessly on the floor. His rage had not been abated by unleashing his frustration on Tommy, and he was increasingly distracted by Mercer's feeble attempts to get him to stop.
How DARE they think they can defeat me? How DARE they think they can infiltrate my territory? They are weak children and I hold their leader. I will no longer tolerate their interference.
But Mesogog didn't know enough about this new enemy to fight against it. He and his minions were barely holding their own against the Power Rangers they knew, let alone the allies they didn't know. I must know what he knows. Mesogog advanced on the limp form of Tommy. Instead of unleashing pain inducing energy into his brain, Mesogog instead tried to extract what he could. But his repeated assaults had scrambled any information Tommy had in his short term memory, and until the man was conscious and able to reorganize his thoughts, attempting to get information this way was useless.
Grabbing Tommy by the shirt, Mesogog picked him up and slung him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He opened an invisaportal back to the lab and stepped through. To his surprise the lab was very crowded. Elsa had been hard at work it seemed, but Mesogog's focus was on Fealdor.
Fealdor was standing by the door of the energy chamber. He was frantically inputting data into the console that controlled the chamber. The Tyranodrone that had taken the boy was still holding him, though he had transferred the boy off of his shoulder and into his arms. He seemed to be waiting for directions.
Dropping Tommy at the foot of his chair, Mesogog advanced on his reptilian minion. "Begin the energy transfer now, Fealdor. I am tired of waiting."
Fealdor audibly gulped and attempted to speak, but nothing came out. The bony ridge above Mesogog's eye sockets began to glow an ugly orange. He advanced upon Fealdor threateningly. "What are you waiting for?"
"My lord…" Fealdor choked out as he backed away from his advancing overlord. "My lord….we can't do the transfer yet."
Mesogog let loose with a bolt of mental energy that brought Fealdor to his knees. He squealed in pain and when it was over was left gasping for breath. Mesogog motioned for the drone to place the Yellow Ranger in the energy chamber. The drone put Dustin on the floor propped up against the far wall of the cubicle chamber. There was room enough for him to sit, but not to be laid out – the chamber was not made for it's victims to lay down, but rather to be standing during energy extraction.
As the drone closed the chamber, all that could be seen of Dustin was his shoulders and head. The lowest part of the chamber was girded in steel on all four sides and blocked the line of sight.
Mesogog turned back to Fealdor who had used the console to pull himself back to his feet. "Do it now."
"My lord, " Fealdor began again, even as he shrank away from the anticipated blow. "It won't work…not like this." He paused holding his breath; Mesogog growled but did not respond with punishment. Fealdor pressed on. "For the boy…for this to work…the power…" He took a shuddering breath and tried to calm himself. Look at the data. Present the facts. Mesogog will have to understand.
"Right now the boy is presenting his purely human nature. The power is there, but he has not accessed it. If we use the chamber now it will only draw on his human energy – he'll be dead in two minutes." Fealdor took a deep breath and continued. "The boy needs to be conscious to call upon his power. As long as he can maintain a balance between the power we draw and the power he calls upon we can use him indefinitely. That was what happened yesterday. When Zeltrax interfered, the power drain was too great. The boy lost the ability to maintain his connection to his power. I watched the tape. As soon as he…" he shook his head looking for words to explain what had happened. "When his ninja suit exploded and he was back in street clothes everything went crazy because the chair was only drawing on his human power and it almost killed him."
"Then wake him." Mesogog ordered in a lethal tone.
Fealdor shuddered. He didn't want to say what had to be said next because he was responsible. "He's been drugged, my lord." he whispered. "We can't wake him."
"That is unfortunate for you…Fealdor." Mesogog advanced on him menacingly. Then Fealdor heard something he never thought he'd be grateful to hear – Elsa's voice.
"I've done it!" she exclaimed.
Mesogog whirled, displeased with being interrupted. And looking at Elsa's face Fealdor got the feeling she hadn't intended to make the exclamation aloud. But, Elsa was never one to let the opportunity of being the center of attention to get away from her. Always one to turn the situation to her advantage, she turned to address Mesogog.
"I have some good news for you, my lord. Maybe this can keep you entertained while you wait."
Standing before her were three Tyranodrones she had put through the genome randomizer. "I do not find Tyranodrones entertaining, Elsa." growled Mesogog.
Elsa smirked, exceedingly pleased with herself. "I've made some improvements, my lord." She slunk over toward the three enhanced drones and spoke as she walked around them. "I've decided to use the coding flaw in the Tyranodrones to our advantage. We've all seen them in battle; they can't fight as a group unless directed by myself or Zeltrax. So the Rangers pick them off and they lay injured or wounded until we disengage and bring them back here."
She stopped walking as she came around the last drone in line. Caressing the shoulder of the nearest drone she looked at Mesogog as she continued speaking, "But what if they couldn't be injured? What if they were virtually indestructible?"
Mesogog cocked his head speculatively. "What have you done, Elsa?" His tone was far more intrigued than angry; Elsa's confidence soared.
She strode back to the control panel for the genome randomizer and pointed to the data as she explained. "You said earlier to use whatever resources we had at hand. I remembered something you had here in your lab. A liquid infused with elements from an acorn from the Tree of Life. I used the liquid in combination with the genome randomizer to enhance the stamina and health of the Tyranodrones. Even as we speak they are filled with life energy and will be virtually unstoppable."
She gestured in a "what can you do" motion. "Eventually the drones' bodies will be unable to sustain their increased energy levels and will drop dead; and I'm not sure how long each one will last. This is just the first batch, so I may have to tweak the level of the infusion." She made a dismissive gesture with her hands. "We have enough drones…we can experiment."
"But…" she strode toward Mesogog in her excitement. "we'll send the drones down in groups of three. Each one will be programmed to fight just one Ranger for as long as possible. We can keep sending down replacements, but they won't be able to take a break."
"What's to stop them from disengaging from battle?" asked Fealdor.
Elsa clapped her hands in girlish glee. "That's the best part! Not only have the drones been programmed to fight a specific Ranger, I've also included a second command. If the Rangers attempt to break off from the fight, the Tyranodrone will start killing civilians!" She laughed harshly. "You know how they feel about protecting the people of Reefside. They can't stand idly by while others are in danger."
"Elsa…" Mesogog was practically purring with delight. "your plan is completely diabolical – using a flaw in the Tyranodrones against the very human flaws of the Rangers. It's so simple it's perfect." Elsa preened under Mesogog's gaze.
"Well it seems we'll have something to keep us occupied while waiting for the Yellow Ranger to come around. And if by the time he wakes there are no Rangers left…our new world will be perfect and ready for the taking."
Striding across the room, Mesogog stepped over the inert form of Tommy to ascend to his chair. Settling himself comfortable he gestured for Elsa to send down the first batch of enhanced drones. He looked down at Tommy. He hoped the Black Ranger regained consciousness soon; it wouldn't do for him to miss the destruction of his team.