Volume VI – Outlaws
Chapter 41—Night of the Hunter
Gabriel
You know how people question the meaning of life?
I don't.
I was born with the sole purpose to destroy.
In my 20 years of blurry and confusing life, I had more history than most people would ever have.
I was created with the intention of reviving a being known as Cronus—a celestial entity born from the union of the Sky and Earth (Ouranos and Gaia). He was responsible for bringing the world to its knees—conquering an entire species without them even knowing his true intentions. The intent to harvest humankind into his own super soldiers so that they could wage war with the one planet capable of truly helping humankind.
Eltar.
Eltar had always played a pivotal role in the history of Earth—from the extinction of the dinosaurs, to the moving of Pangaea—helping to mold humankind in their likeness. When it appeared the human race would be extinct by forces far greater than it could comprehend, Eltar stepped in and saved it by gracing them with their sacred power: The Morphing Grid.
Since the beginning of my people's time—the Chrominite Race—we have been at war with Eltar, whose history mirrored our own. And now, Earth was our battlefield, as it had been since the dawn of its time.
Our history continued with me. Our war continued with me. It continued inside of me.
No matter how much of my destiny I fulfilled, no matter how obedient of a pawn I was to my predetermined fate; part of me longed for something different. Beth, no matter how insignificant she seemed to the Angel in me, still haunted my human brain. Despite the rough exterior she tried to portray, she was a softer, more understanding being than anyone could realize. When we were together, I could forget about my destiny and explore my human side. And I can't say it wasn't fun. I envied the simplistic lives they led, worrying only about the most miniscule details. Only she made me feel that way. And that was one of the reasons she had to die. Because as long as she was around, I would always feel this gap in me I could not fill—literally. She held a piece of my soul, and I would take it back. And I would never feel human again.
Of course, there were Kira and Brad—my adoptive mother and father. For 17 years, I knew they weren't my real parents, but they cared for me like I was their own. No matter how fucked up I was, no matter how unlike Brad I was, or how different mine and Kira's music tastes were, they loved me. It was literally tearing me up inside that they didn't try to stop me from becoming what I was. On one hand, they were still the most accepting parents anyone could want—not trying to will me away from what whatever I wanted to do. On the other hand, they weren't trying to save me from myself.
Emo enough for you?
If it's not, understand this: everyone else is free to make their own decisions. But how do you make a decision that you don't want to make? I was the most powerful being in the entire world, but I was powerless against myself.
All that power did me little good, though. I could be all-powerful and still be beaten by those lower than me. I mean, sure, Aaron could rival me in power, but that idiotic half-breed had no idea what he was truly capable of; he was too busy trying to fuck that low-class Eltarian-wannabe, Patrick. The two of them posed the greatest threat to me, and unfortunately, Patrick was slowly starting to figure out that crucial fact. When that nobody human-Eltarian hybrid accidentally freed the Eltarian portion of Zeta, he fucked up everything.
With Zeta's natural power fueling part of the Ranger Technology, the Green Ranger was far too powerful to be fought; but when Zeta crossed the line and tried to kill Aaron, Patrick ruined his advantage all because of his ridiculous feelings for the Eltarian Prince. Lucky for me.
That was when I was granted the nudge toward greatness; my White Aleph Morpher. And then, I brought hell to Earth, decimating the Cyber Squad Rangers easily. If I thought my Alpha Morpher had been powerful—if I thought that being the Red Ranger was somehow fulfilling—I was so wrong.
Mesomorph opened the doors of destiny for me, and I was so close to walking right through them. The only thing I needed to do was finish off Aaron, drain Beth's morpher dry, and get rid of the Zeta Seraph. Not too difficult, one would think.
But now I was dead-ended again.
I knew where Doctor Oliver's house was. Or at least, I thought I did. I'm not sure how, but he must have fucked with my head after I re-enrolled at Reefside Central, because I could not—for the life of me—remember where that house was. Every time I thought I was close; I would just wind up lost in the woods. It was like the house just didn't exist.
"The rangers have escaped," I said slowly into the communicator Mesomorph had given me.
"How?" he asked calmly.
"I infected them with the virus, but the Mecha Squad put up more of a fight than I anticipated," I growled out, looking back on the battlefield where Mira and Rheas were still fighting my old teammates.
"Why do they continue to fight?" he roared. "I gave them that power, and I can take it away." He paused as if he were musing to himself for a few moments, before he barked more orders. "Gabriel!"
"Yes?"
"Return to SPD Headquarters. I have other plans."
"Affirmative," I mumbled, spreading my wings and taking to the sky once more.
As I felt the wind under my wings, I glanced out at the sun peeking through the blanket of clouds before me. Just as the break in the grey began to appear, it was ousted once more and the shroud of darkness remained.
Like the sun, though, I would be back.
I would be back for the rangers.
I would be back for her.
—41—
Mount Imperious was an island-like formation crash-landed on a premature volcanic island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Once a great Chrominite Warship and home to the most feared beings in the universe, it had been reduced to a vast jungle of vines, cobwebs, and dust with only a fragment of its Greco-Roman architectural beauty.
Its current sight brought a fit of rage over my body, but I bit back the anger and continued to move through the dense entanglement of vines.
"I told you, this won't work," I said shortly to Mesomorph.
"Oh, ye of little faith," he hissed psychotically. "The resurrection of Cronus will represent both the beginning…" he paused as he swiped his hand over the vines covering a control panel installed in the rock wall; "And the end…of the war."
I stared at the control panel, somewhat confused as to what he meant. I knew this ship like the back of my hand—it was imprinted in my memory (or Cronus' memory, rather). So why did this control panel look unfamiliar to me.
"Did you install that yourself?" I asked him, bewildered.
"I am going to supply Mount Imperious with the energy taken from the Rangers' Cyber Network, and bring back the Titan of Chaos to usher this planet into a new age of prosperity and superiority. And the universe shall know and respect the name of the Homo sapiens."
I stepped back as the mountain began to rumble, waves lapping at the coast as the massive landmark began to fire up its long-since-dead retro-boosters.
"Stop right there, Mesomorph!"
I whirled around to face the intruders.
Impossibly, the Mecha and Cyber Squads stood at the ready.
"But how?" Mesomorph hissed.
"Dude, we've got Zordians, Eltarians, and humans working on our side. All you've got is Gabriel," the Blue Cyber Squad Ranger—Matt—said condescendingly.
"In a moment, you'll wish you had me too!" I roared as I lunged for them.
My fist collided with Aaron's open palm as he blocked me and attempted to counter. Quickly, I twisted my arm—and his along with mine—causing him to release my hand and creating an opening for me to knee him in the side. As he cried out in pain, I brought my wings forth and slammed them into the sides of his neck, and then jumped off the ground and double-foot-kicked him square in the chest.
Patrick flew at me just as Aaron's body was strewn away from me, but I took off to the skies with a flap of my giant wings. As the sun peeked from behind the clouds again, I felt it energize me, and I unleashed the fury of the colossal star upon all 13 of the rangers below.
"Mira, Rheas—hold them off!" I hollered at the two generals Mesomorph called his best warriors.
A blinding red beam of energy flashed below, extending from Mesomorph's open mouth, and firing all the way into the coast. When I looked below, the rangers had been scattered from the blast, several of their suits phasing in and out.
"We don't have time for this," Mesomorph whispered, wiping his mouth with the side of his sleeve.
I gently descended upon the rangers, who were too weak to even attempt stopping us. Then I noticed something peculiarly opportunistic. Patrick Adams, the Green Zeta Weather Ranger, was still injured from our last fight. His suit had completely deteriorated in green embers of cybernetic energy, and he was desperately clutching his side in pain as droplets of crimson blood seeped through his thin green t-shirt.
"Oh, this is perfect," I mused sinisterly, half to myself.
"Gabriel," Mesomorph called out as he continued to enter Mount Imperious' stronghold, "let's go."
"Oh, no; it is so rare that I am offered a chance to finish off a ranger—let alone a ranger as coveted by Zeta as Patrick." I stopped abruptly as I stepped closer, the other rangers struggling to form a wall around him. "No, I believe I will make the time for this."
I stretched my wings to full length, the sheer force of the action sending shockwaves of Cronus energy at the weakened Mecha Rangers. Only the Red, White, Pink, and Blue Cyber Rangers were standing, curiously, but I took no interest in them. Other than Beth, the Red Cyber Ranger, of course. But according to my senses, her suit still held too much power at the moment to attempt hacking the Alpha Morpher. No, that was all a matter of timing. Patrick's death was just a matter of opportunity.
"Move," I said bemusedly, flinging more Cronus energy at the frail group of rangers before me.
Aaron was shouting commands at the others to protect Patrick, Grace, and Jay at all costs, but I remember thinking that even he knew they stood no chance. As I stepped within their perimeter of a 3-foot radius, Amy began bombarding me with telekinetic energy. I had to give her credit, because the little wannabe-Kimberly had actually progressed impressively; still, she was no match for me.
With a wave of my hand, I brought up a sphere of telekinetic Cronus energy and hurled it at her. The force field she managed to erect just before impact shattered feebly and she fell back into Aaron, who caught her, spun around, and unleashed a devastating photonic beam of energy. Instantly, my wings came forth and surrounded my body, repelling the energy like a dam to a river. When his constant salvo of light energy began to weaken, I thrust my wings open and dispelled his ray like it was child's play. Essentially, it was.
Unfortunately, Joshua Anderson, the Mecha Green Technos Ranger, caught me off guard with a burst of electrical energy that singed my wings. I felt another barrage of Spiritos Energy come from Melissa DePew, the Mecha Yellow Spiritos Ranger, and then a whirlwind of sharp winds brought on by the Blue Hurricane Cyber Ranger.
"ENOUGH!" I growled, stamping my feet into the ground and flexing my arms at my sides.
A dome of white energy surrounded me in a fiery haze as I began to power up. Their energy continued, but it rippled harmlessly on my force field of Cronus energy. I concentrated and brought the force into my body, then unleashed it in a destructive wave of energy that brought the entire Mecha Squad and Cyber Squad to its knees.
As the smoke cleared, I smiled half to myself as I observed my destruction. The rangers lay strewn before me, Aaron's body draped over Patrick's as a last-ditch-effort to protect him. Pathetic.
I kicked Aaron to the side and picked up Patrick effortlessly, his eyes boring into my own as he attempted to wriggle free.
"Just do it," he spat, literally, staining my face with bits of saliva and blood.
I smirked.
"Oh, I will."
"No, you will not."
I slowly turned my head to the source of the voice.
Mira stood a few meters to my left, her eyes sharing that same icy trait as Patrick's. Almost as if they were the same eyes.
No.
"What?" I snarled.
"Drop him."
"Mira, no!" Mesomorph commanded her harshly.
"You are a fool if you think I will sit back idly while this goes on," she barked back at him. "You said they would be spared—you said they would join us. Now, I see the truth."
"What is she talking about?" I demanded harshly, tightening my hold around Patrick's frail human-Eltarian neck.
"Patrick," she said almost tenderly, "Patrick is my son."
I felt the boy's pulse quicken under my grip as I looked back and forth between the two. His eyes burned with wonder, confusion, and betrayal, but her eyes showed only concern for her child.
"So?" I carelessly asked.
"I want him alive, Gabriel," she said boldly. "So drop him."
"Are you insane? This pest is too dangerous to be kept alive," I said. "His purpose would be best served dead."
"Then you'll have to go through me."
I looked at her with an amused grin, but slowly analyzed the features in her eyes—all I could see of her face. "Don't be stupid, Mira. You've been a loyal soldier, and I'd hate to destroy you now."
"You obviously don't know what a mother will do for her child," she shot back as she removed her mask and unsheathed her katana.
I had ignored Patrick for so long that I was surprised to feel the wetness along the hand holding him. When I glanced at him, I could see the raw emotion in his face—the most intense of emotional conflicts waging war inside of him and outside of him. For a slight second, my human compassion overrode everything and I dropped him carelessly in the dirt. I knew how he felt. To some extent, I knew.
"Very well," I conceded.
I turned around to see Mesomorph, tenser than I'd ever seen him. I could tell he thought I was seconds from shredding Mira to pieces. I had long suspected a romantic link between the two, but said nothing. He was a psychotic mutated human being who, though he intended good, brought chaos to the world. Quite personally, I hardly cared about Earth. But if conquering Earth would help destroy Eltar, then I was all for assisting him.
As I began to walk away, Mira re-sheathing her sword and sparing Patrick a parting look of love, I heard the Green Ranger call out.
"Wait," he said, choked from his lack of air and the emotions by which he was suddenly battered.
When none of us bothered to face him, he called again—stronger—causing the sky to rumble in an ominous way. It was as if he was commanding the weather to force us to listen. As the winds picked up and lightning forked across the sky, we finally turned to face him.
He was kneeling now, glaring up at all three of us.
"Tell me why," he demanded, though it sounded like a mixture of an order and a plea.
Mesomorph nodded slowly to Mira, as if giving her permission. In his eyes, I could see his vile intentions—hoping to use Patrick's human "unconditional love" for his mother to sway the boy's allegiance.
"I am an SPD operative," Mira said coldly, as if she was calculating each of her words. "During its development and the chaos known as the Temporal Protection Act, I became involved with SPD's first-elected Eltar Representative of Earth. From our…unity…a child was born."
Patrick's icy grey eyes never left her as she spoke, and the shame in her voice became more evident when she would not meet his gaze.
"So, for 18-years, you just lied to me? You just left me? For Mesomorph?" he bellowed.
"Yes," she said coldly. "I'm sorry."
"You're not sorry," he said back, his tone matching her own. "You don't know the meaning of the word."
"Patrick," she snapped, her motherly tone amusing me slightly, "I could have killed you at any point I chose. When you became involved with the Cyber Rangers, I should have destroyed you without thinking twice; but I didn't. I faked my own civilian death just so you could be free to make your own decision."
"But you used me! And you knew that if you faked your death, I'd be too emotionally fucked up to handle being a ranger."
"You're thinking too far into it," she said sadly, shaking her head and replacing her mask.
"Am I? Well excuse the fuck out of me," he bitterly berated her. "I've only got a slew of other emotional issues, so sorry if I'm trying to keep them all straight at the moment."
"Look, I'm sorry. I did what I had to. Regardless of what you may think, I know what I feel and I know what I have done. Nothing you can say or do can crucify me even more than I have already done to myself. But I gave up my life so you could be free. If that's not love, I don't know what is."
"You could have told me."
"Would it have made a difference? Me being on the opposing side makes me just as good as dead to the ally of the Power Rangers. The rangers would never have trusted you and Thomas would have raped your brain for information. I had my own schedule to keep. Not everything was about you."
"And you call yourself a mother."
She threw a bolt of energy his way, purposely missing him. "The first one's a warning."
"As amusing as this is," I yawned, "I see 13 powerless rangers right now. Am I the only one trying to win this war?"
"Shut up, Gabriel," Patrick shouted, lightning tearing from the sky and dancing in sparks only inches from where I was standing.
I glared back at him, anger and pride overtaking me.
I pulled the sparks into my hand, magnetizing them with my power, and engorging them with the force of my solar angel powers. Even without the Aleph Morpher, I felt the solar energy running through my veins, burning in my blood, and forcing its way out in a tangible ball of radiant fire. On impulse—no forethought or premeditation even remotely present in my brain—I hurled Patrick's own energy at him.
There was a massive explosion, an agonizingly painful scream, and a burst of light so brilliant I thought the sun itself had appeared on Earth. I pulled my forearm up to my eyes, blocking them from the sudden illumination.
As the light died down, I could hear Mesomorph's enraged shriek when he saw Mira standing before Patrick, her katana held horizontally in front of her.
Patrick was on the ground, knocked unconscious by the blast, but Mira stood haphazardly in the aftershock of the blast. I knew, and she knew, and I'm sure Mesomorph knew. We had lost her.
Her eyes stared back at me, but I could tell they were unfocused—they were dying. She slumped to the ground, her katana falling next to her and her hair unraveling from her usually tight high-ponytail. Despite the evident burns and scrapes on her, I could not ascertain a cause of death. My scanner-like brain was trying to process the situation, but even I couldn't determine why she was suddenly dying. I mean, sure, my blast of energy was powerful—but she would have had to literally not try blocking it to have been killed by it. She would have had to be completely vulnerable. And Mira was a warrior. Why would she purposely lose?
Then, I saw the hole in her armor.
She had placed her sword in front of her to give the appearance of blocking my blast, but in reality, I could see she'd allowed herself to be struck down. To protect her son. To save Patrick.
Why?
Mesomorph was at her side instantly, his claws stroking her face gently.
"Please," she whispered, though my keen ears picked up every sound she made, "please let him choose."
Mesomorph said nothing, but he placed his hand upon the jewel around her neck, absorbing the energy inside of it. Rheas, though I had completely forgotten about him, stepped forward stupidly. He hardly ever spoke, and when he did, it was irritatingly dull. But even he seemed to be concerned about Mira. When he stepped closer, though, Mesomorph extended his clawed hand and pulled the energy from the crystal embedded in Rheas' forehead.
The vigor and power flowed from the two crystals into Mesomorph, who slowly began to mutate back to his humanoid form of Messiah. The two wings I was expecting to extend from his scapulae never came, and when he turned around and stood to his full height, I was surprised to see the man before me.
Messiah still retained his forehead-horns and the blood red eyes, but he had hair now. Short, dark brown hair. And though he was solidly built, I could tell he was at least in his 40s. I could tell from worn features around his eyes and mouth, and in the years that were evident in his eyes.
I looked at him confusedly, cocking my head slightly to the side.
"Come," he said gruffly, though humanly. "Cronus awaits us yet."
I spared the rangers a glance, but he shook his head. "Mira was correct—we do need them. We will need the Cyber Network to bring Eltar to its feet, and destroying them will only hinder us. They will join us. And I have a feeling Patrick will be the key to our victory."
I raised an eyebrow. "Really? Because the little shit just seems to be a constant nuisance to me."
"Annoying, though he may be, he is essential to my plan. And my plan, Angel, is your plan; is it not?"
"Yes."
"Then let us go."
—41—
I stood at the sacred altar of Cronus, kneeling before it respectfully while Messiah-Mesomorph—or whatever his name was now—implemented his cybernetic feedback device. The ranger's Cyber Network slowly began decrypting the ancient seal on Cronus' Adamantine prison.
"You're positive this will work?" I asked.
"Project C-SKUAD retains the base-codes of the Cronus Energy, which is what makes it compatible with the Super Stones. Ever wonder why the Cyber Squad is codenamed in Greek?"
I pieced the two together and nodded slowly. "So, the Eltarians entrusted the secret of Cronus in technology?"
"Technology and nature," he said back. "That is what makes the Cyber Rangers so powerful—so unpredictably competitive and resilient."
"This virus," I wondered, "how can you reverse engineer the Cyber Coding to free Cronus instead of imprisoning him?"
"If you know how something works, wouldn't it stand to reason that you can scientifically reverse it?"
"I suppose."
"Now, watch and learn as I begin your future…and end theirs."
"Why don't you watch and learn as I end you?"
We both spun around to lay eyes on an inconceivable sight.
Before us stood the Mecha White Solaris Aleph Ranger.
"Who are you?" I growled out, glaring down my former ranger armor with the utmost of anger.
"Does that really matter?"
My brain went into overdrive trying to ascertain the identity of this female white ranger. Quickly, I went through a list of possible candidates. No one came to mind. Unless it was Mira.
"Mira?" I wondered, as if I had the answer figured out.
"Not quite," she retorted, circling me strategically.
"Whoever you are, you obviously have no idea who I am."
"Oh, that's where you're wrong, Gabriel Xavier," she said back cockily. "I know exactly who you are and what you're capable of; that's why I brought backup."
I could hardly believe my eyes as the rest of the Mecha Squad streaked onto the scene, fully morphed and re-energized. "How?"
"You obviously have no idea who I am."
My eyes narrowed at her mockery of me and I slid into a fighting position. "Very well then; I was looking forward to destroying someone today. I'll make sure that's you."