After Darkness Falls
"Falling Apart"
Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers, that is owned by Saban/Disney. Carri and all things related to Carri (including Jason's cougar ninjetti power) belong to KJ with many thanks. Everyone else belongs to me.
A/N: Kim's powers were inspired by KSuzie, but unlike KSuzie's she cannot travel between dimensions, only time and space and I am expanding on them as seen in the last chapter. As always, reviews are appreciated.
Sarahna sat in her throne room thinking of a plan. She had tried to be forceful to get Jason, tried attacking the city, attacking his friends, maybe it was time for a new plan. A new way to go about it. Give him an ultimatum. Yes, and ultimatum. She smiled, her eyes widening as she thought of her plan.
Jason sat in his recliner, flipping through the channels. As usual there was nothing on TV on Tuesday. He was supposed to have met Emily for a few drinks, but she got held up at the hospital so he decided he'd stay in. Tomorrow he was going to work out with Tommy and TJ, get to know the former red Turbo ranger. He'd met him once, on the Serpentera mission. He seemed like a nice enough guy, he had to be if Tommy picked him as his replacement. He figured he'd have to actually get to know sooner or later since he was now apart of the team. They had asked Ryan to join them, but he had declined saying there was something he needed to take care of in Mariner Bay.
It had been 2 days since TJ and Ryan had been chosen, and so far no attacks. He found a little strange, and even though he knew wouldn't happen, he was still hopeful that Sarahna had turned tail and ran. But he knew her, and he knew she wouldn't do that. His battles in space taught him that Sarahna didn't give up on something until she got it, and she would use any means necessary to get it. In this case what she wanted was him, why he didn't know, other than to kill him.
As he finally settled on a TV show to watch he heard glass shattering. Jumping up he ran in the direction of the sound, his kitchen. Entering the room he saw her standing there, Sarahna. "What do you want?" he asked as he moved to morph.
"Calm down Jasey, I'm just here to talk. Not to fight." She said as softly as she could. "Now, can we talk?"
Jason, keeping his fingers on the wolf symbol on his morpher, in case of a trap, nodded. "What about?"
"Oh nothing really, just the destruction of the city, maybe the world. I have Serpentera, and I'm not Zedd. I will just attack the planet at random, destroying it in a single blast, unless..." she let her voice trail off.
"Unless what?" Jason asked, knowing full well that she would do it.
"Unless you turn yourself over to me. Come with me and I will spare this planet, this city. Refuse and it will all be gone in the blink of an eye. You have sixteen hours to decide." With that said she disappeared in a strike of lightning.
Jason clenched his teeth. He knew this was a trap, but he also knew she was serious about destroying the planet with Serpentera. When she attacked the Power Chamber she had merely been toying with them, showing them the power she now possessed. "Damn it!" he shouted, punching his fridge. Seeing his refelction in the metal handle bar he saw his eyes glowing bright red. "Calm down Jason..." he told himself.
He walked into his bedroom and felt around under his mattress, pulling out the Tyrannosaurus coin. "Good, it's still here." He knew what had happened to Kim, how Sarahna had stolen her two coins. He had no idea how many others she had, or even how she knew Kim possessed two of them. But he was determined to keep his coin out of her reach.
Carri lay on her living room couch when she heard a knock at the front door. "Go away..." she grumbled. She had worked late the night before and just collapsed there when she got home. Her brother was throwing all the hard work her way and she hated him for it. When she accepted his job offer she thought she was going to be helping him with his work, not doing his work for him. All he had really done since she joined was look over what she did and give her more to do. The initial film they had been working on had been done for about two months, and already they were working on the sequel. She thought about quitting and starting her own business, and everyday that seemed more and more inviting.
When she didn't answer the knocks the doorbell began to ring uncontrollably. "Son of a bitch, go away!" she said a little louder, but still not loud enough to be heard outside. As the doorbell continued to ring she thought about just using her telekinesis she picked up in the past on KO-35 to just throw whoever it was across the street, but decided that could be bad. She rolled off the couch and picked herself up, stumbling to the door. She unlocked it and yanked it open. "What do you want?" she growled, eyes closed because of the sun.
"Is that anyway to say 'hello'?" a familiar Australian accented voice said.
Oh no, oh no, oh please no, Carri thought as she barely opened her eyes to see who it was. "Shit." She muttered. It was her cousin Kat. The last person she wanted to see. The two had been best friends at one point, until Kim came back to town. Carri began to talk to her, and hang out with her, much to Kat's dismay. Carri didn't see the problem with it, Kat had left the team and Kim had taken her place, just like Kat had previously taken Kims place, and she had been trying to get to know her new teammate. Apparently Kat saw it as her choosing Kim over her though, like it was a competition. As time went on they grew further and further apart, and eventually Kat left Angel Grove for San Francisco, but returned to Angel Grove after about two years.
"Hello, now what do you want?" Carri said, humoring her cousin.
"Are you drunk?" Kat asked, appalled at the thought.
"No."
"Hungover? You sure look like one or the other." Kat said, her disapproval of her cousin being either evident.
"Neither. I got home late from work, fell asleep on the couch, and then was woke up by my cousin who consistently knocked and then furiously rang my doorbell to the point where I think I'd be comfortable strangling her." Carri said angrily.
"I see, well, I see you're still not a morning person. I'll just come back later." Kat said, quickly turning on her heel and walking off.
"Yeah, you do that!" Carri yelled as Kat got in her car. "I'll be sure to be in another universe by then." She muttered as she shut the door.
Ryan entered Captain Mitchell's office in the rebuilt Aquabase. After their final battle with Queen Bansheera they had proceeded to rebuild their base, and make it better than before. Mrs. Rawlings, formerly Mrs. Fairweather, had received a bigger lab with updated equipment, they had a simu-deck installed, thanks to Andros and Zhane, and the base itself was just all around bigger, allowing more space for it's residents.
"Captain Mitchell Sir!" Ryan said, saluting his father as he entered.
"Yes Ryan, what is it?" Captain Mitchell asked as he looked up from his desk of papers. Lightspeed had taken in some new recruits and as the head of Lightspeed it was his duty to look over their reports.
"Sir I have come to temporarily resign from Lightspeed. I'm needed elsewhere, and I feel it would be best if all my attention were to be focused there." Ryan said, making his case. If he was granted permission to leave he would head to Angel Grove, get a hotel room for however long he was needed to fight Sarahna, then once the battle was over he would return to Mariner Bay and to Lightspeed.
"You are, of course, referring to the events taking place in Angel Grove, and the fact that you were chosen as apart of the team?" Capt. Mitchell asked, sitting back and folding his arms over his chest.
"I am." Ryan nodded. "Sir, if I may, the others were a team who could hold their own long before I joined, so I believe they can function without me."
Capt. Mitchell nodded his approval and said "Very well then, you are to return to Lightspeed after your business in Angel Grove is concluded."
"Thank you sir." Ryan said, saluting him and turning to leave.
"Oh and Ryan," Capt. Mitchell said, waiting for his son to turn around before continuing. "Good luck, and show those aliens what a Mitchell can do." Ryan nodded, giving his dad a smile before leaving.
Tommy and Jason stood around the weight bench while TJ tried to break his previous record. Jason told them about the night before, and how ten of his sixteen hours had already expired. "Well," TJ said as he lifted the dumbbell, "it's nine o'clock now, so you still have six hours. That's plenty of time to come up with a plan."
"Yeah but we weren't ever able to defeat Serpentera when that bumbling ofe Zedd had control of it. The only thing that really kept him from going on a rampage was it's limited power supply, and unless I'm mistaken, Sarahna solved that problem with a lightning diamond." Tommy replied.
"Maybe I could turn myself over, wait for the right moment to disable the shield that keeps us from teleporting in, and then one of you could sneak onto Serpentera and steal the diamond." Jason said, he knew it was a very flawed plan, but it was better than nothing.
"No, it's too risky. Who's to say she won't kill you as soon as she has you?" Tommy said, taking a drink of his water.
Jason helped TJ up and said "Well she's been after me this entire time, I doubt she'd kill me that quickly. There must be some reason she wants me so badly."
"Yeah, to kill you." TJ said as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Look man, I know I'm new to this team, and to the battle against Sarahna, but even I know you shouldn't turn yourself in." Looking to Tommy he asked "Do we have any Zords?"
Tommy replied "Not at the moment, last I heard Billy was working on updating some of the older Zords to be compatible with the Feral powers."
"Damn. That might have worked." TJ muttered.
"What?" Jason asked, curious to hear what TJ's plan was.
"Well, I was thinking that maybe if we had access to a Megazord we could find a way to destroy Serpentera." As he thought about it an idea came to him. "The Megaship!" he said, snapping his fingers. "I'll see you guys later, I gotta go talk to Andros." TJ quickly grabbed his bottle and towel and took off.
"You think it'll work?" Tommy asked. He had his doubts when it came to Serpentera, it was just about the only time he ever doubted a victory.
"It might. The Megaship is more advanced than than the Thunderzords were." Jason said "I think are chances are at least a little better with it."
"Yeah, maybe."
Kim stood by the register, counting out change to give her customer. "Five, six, seven, and eight. There you go. Have a nice day." She said as she smiled and handed her customer his change. "Finally, I go on my lunch break." Kim said as the customer walked out the door. As she went to clock out she heard the jingle of the door opening. She groaned as she turned back to the counter to see what she could do to get the customer out of there. "Hello, how may I help...Jason?" she asked, seeing the silver ranger standing there. "Well this is a surprise, care to join me for lunch?"
Jason walked over to the counter shaking his head. "No, I'm just here to drop something off. I should've clued you, Carri, Rocky, and Ryan in on this but, Sarahna broke into my house last night and we had a talk."
Kim looked at him hard and said "What kind of talk?"
Jason took note of the look she was giving him, and he knew he was going to get an earful from both her and Carri later. "The kind that involves me turning myself over to her, and if I don't then the Earth is gone, courtesy of your friendly universal Serpentera." He paused before continuing "Anyway, TJ went to go talk to Andros a few hours ago, and thankfully the Megaship can still transform into a Megazord. We're going to use it to try and destroy Serpentera, but just in case things go bad and I do need to end up turning myself in, I wanted to drop this off to keep it away from her." He pulled his out of his pocket and revealed his old Power Coin, placing it in Kims hand.
Kim opened her mouth to say something, but before she could Jason teleported out via his Muranthian power. "Oh youa re not getting away that easily Jason Lee Scott." Kim said before teleporting herself.
Sarahna kept her eyes on the clock. "Tik Tok, little Jasey only has three hours left until I come to collect. Tik Tok, Tik Tok..."
After arriving behind Jason at the NASADA Space Port she contacted the others who teleported in. "So what's going on?" Rocky asked, confused. He had cancelled classes and given his employees the day off so that he could catch up on all the paper work that needed to be done for his schools. Kim, Rocky, Carri, and Ryan all listened as Tommy, TJ, and Jason filled them in on what had happened at Jason's and the plan they had.
"So basically we're jsut going to knocking on Sarahna's front door with the Megaship?" Carri asked, not too sure about the plan.
"More like the back door, but yes." Jason said, not too sure of it himself.
"That's crazy, I've heard stories about Serpentera from people who used to live in Angel Grove, and quite frankly I don't think a single Megazord can stand up to it." Ryan protested.
"I know it sounds crazy, but the only alternative is to let Jason turn himself in and maybe deactivate it, but we have no guarantee that she won't kill him as soon as she ahs him." TJ said
"You have my word that I won't kill him." Said a voice from outside. The seven rangers quickly ran outside the hangar. "I need him alive if my plans are go anywhere." Sarahna said, walking towards the rangers. "And you really think that this tiny thing could even scratch my Serpentera? Hardly."
The rangers quickly morphed and prepared for a fight. "You said I had sixteen hours, it's been thirteen and a half." Jason said from behind his helmet.
"I know, I know. But I was bored. So times up, now either come with me, or say goodbye to your planet. The choice is yours. Either way I get you." She said with a devillish smile on her face.
'What are you talking about?" Jason asked, confused.
"Refuse my offer and find out." Sarahna said with a laugh. "Now either you come with me, or I destroy this planet. I won't say it again, you'd better decide."
Jason sighed, he knew he had to. To protect them, to protect the planet. "Sorry guys..." he said as he began to walk towards her.
"No!" Kim shouted as she grabbed onto him and yanked him back. "Jason, this is suicide. How do you know that she won't just destroy the planet once she has you? Hm? Think about that."
Sarahna sighed and said "I already gave you my word that I would not harm the planet, or it's inhabitants. As long as he cooperated. Change of plans, both of you need to come or there is no deal. Now come along."
Kim glared at Sarahna from behind her visor, her eyes glowing red.
"Damn it Kim we need to go. This may be our one chance to take her down." Jason growled, his eyes glowing red, clealry visible through his helmet.
"Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you." In three strikes of lightning Sarahna and both rangers vanished.
"That was unexpected." Carri said as they demorphed, breaking the silence that had fallen over the rangers. "What do we do now?"
"We go after them, that's what." Tommy said. Not only had Sarahna taken his best friend, but she had also taken the love of his life and he was determined to get both of them back. "TJ, think you can fly this thing?"
"Eyes closed." TJ said as he led the others onto the Megaship.
"Well, looks I'll be in space after all heh heh." Carri said, vaguely remembering earlier with Kat.
"What?" Rocky asked, not knowing what his girlfriend was talking about.
"Oh, nothing. Kat just stopped by earlier, that's all."
"Oh." Rocky didn't need to hear anymore, he had been there when they went their seperate ways.
Once on board they each took a seat and with guiding them they took off.
Emily walked out of the hospital, her shift was finally over and it time to go see Jason. They had reconnected a few days before and had made plans to hang out. They weren't dating again like she had hoped, but it was a start. At least they were speaking to each other and hanging out. Hanging up she tried calling him again, but no answer. "Where are you Jason?" she asked as she tried calling him again, still with no luck. "I give up. Call me when you get this, bye." she said, leaving him a voicemail. She sighed, saying "Guess it's just me and the TV tonight."
Jason and Kim sat tied up inside Serpentera's cockpit as Sarahna and Xinas piloted. She couldn't believe it had worked. He was hers, and she had a consolation prize. She giggled and her eyes widened at the thought of it, Jason was finally in her grasp. "Don't bother trying to teleport, those restraints are made to counter Murathians. Your powers are useless. And these," she held up their communicators "are of no use to me, or you for that matter." She dropped them onto the floor and stomped on them.
"What are you planning on doing to us?" Jason asked, struggling against the restraints with no such luck.
"If I told you then it wouldn't be a surprise, now would it?" she said with a smile so big her teeth were showing. "Now," she grabbed their faces in her hands "sleep!" When she removed her hands both of them passed out, hitting the floor. "That's better. Xinas, I would like to be at Volacia by the end of the day. Now hurry, or you'll face the same fate as Cairus."
"Yes my queen." Xinas said in his gravelly voice.
"Soon I will be victorious," Sarahna said as she looked at the Tyrannosaurus coin. "Who would have thought that little Kimmie would have had it all along?" she asked as she dropped it into the pouch with the other five.