Chapter 44—Attack

Beth

"He's in the hangar bay," Hunter, Aaron's Dyn, said helplessly. "Whatever you do, please be careful."

He and Dustin shared a look for a few moments before they turned to address us again.

"Aaron's Empathic abilities are going berserk," Dustin said, taking over for his over-emotional mate. "He's absorbing psychic energy from the entire planet, and if we don't get him back here, he'll kill himself."

"How are we supposed to get him back here when we can't touch him?" Matt asked as kindly as possible.

"We have to try," I volunteered. I was feeling reckless, and I wasn't sure why. Maybe it was because I was in shock that Gabriel was dead, then he was alive, then he was dead again. Maybe it was because I was tired of all the intergalactic drama. Was it really so difficult for everyone to put their differences aside?

"I'm going to find Andrea and Nike," Amy said, "maybe they can boost my power enough to create a psychokinetic barrier around Aaron and keep him from touching anything or anyone."

"While you do that, we'll head off Aaron."

"Just be careful," Hunter added. "There's no telling what his powers are doing, and Patrick's conditions aren't reflecting any information we can use."

"What did Aaron do to him?" Matt wondered.

"He's absorbed the morphtronic energy in Patrick's body."

"Meaning?" Jay asked, still confused.

"He has the power of the Green Ranger."

—44—

I dodged to the right of a burst of light energy, then rolled behind a large metallic crate.

"Why is he attacking us?" I bellowed into my communicator.

"The excess energy is driving him insane," Hunter said, "and he thinks that all of you are Gabriel."

"How is that even possible?" Grace demanded.

"Gabriel's own psychic energy was able to reach out from Beth's morpher and tap into Aaron's Empath field. By doing so, he was able to get into Aaron's head."

"And why is he just now doing that?" I spat. "If his energy's always been inside me and inside the morpher, hasn't he had plenty of time to get inside Aaron's head?"

"No," Dustin answered, "he needed the whole planet's psychic field to boost his powers enough to get inside Aaron's head."

"So, because I'm on—" I was cut off by an explosion and rolled to the right. "Because I'm on Eltar, Gabriel can use the planet's psychic energy to break into Aaron's mind?"

"Exactly," Dustin and Hunter responded unanimously.

"Great."

I leapt up and magnetized the crates around me to slam into Aaron's glowing form.

"He's activating the Eyr Orion!" Jay yelled, tackling me to the ground.

No sooner had he knocked me down did a burst of lightning sear through the room and clash into the wall.

"He's using Patrick's powers," I mumbled. "We are so screwed."

"Maybe morphing will slow down the process," Matt suggested. "Our suits should protect us long enough to grab a hold of him and teleport him back."

"Good idea," Grace agreed.

"Ready?" I called.

"Ready!"

"CYBER DIGITIZE—ENERGIZE!"

I posed as I felt my ranger suit second-skin coat my body, strengthening me with all the power my body could handle.

"We've got to be careful not to hurt him," Jay said, dodging bolts of lightning.

"Yeah, cuz that's what I'm worried about; us hurting him," Matt muttered as he flew up into the air.

I continued to move the metal crates around as my main offense, but I couldn't keep Aaron in one spot no matter how hard I tried. And it seemed like no matter what I did, he was gaining on us. He was moving closer and closer, and I knew it was only a matter of time before he'd be right on us.

"Grace, can you get a force field up around us?" I called to the team's Black Ranger.

Without Amy on our side, or Aaron for that matter, our defensive strategy was suffering greatly. Their manipulation of energy could keep most foes back, but Jay, Matt, and I were the concrete elements. Grace was our only hope. And a shadow force field wasn't particularly effective.

"I can try, but it won't hold for long!" she replied.

She brought up the force field just in time, Aaron's light and storm energy impacting savagely on the black dome Grace had just created.

Seconds later, it shattered like broken glass.

"New plan," Grace panted.

I heard an agonizing cry and looked up to see Jay in Aaron's grasp. Yellow energy coursed over his body, surging like a plague of power. His suit flickered, flames bursting around him and Aaron, and then he crumpled. Limp. Nearly lifeless.

Aaron's aura instantly brightened and became flame like, white in appearance, with green strings of electricity dancing around him harmlessly as they crackled with intensity.

"Jay…" I mumbled disbelievingly.

It was over before I could see what hit me. With Jay's super speed, Aaron was able to absorb all of our powers, even through our ranger suits. As he released my throat and the blackness began to settle in, I could only hear one thing.

Gabriel's laughter.

—44—

"Thank God, you're alive!"

I groggily opened my eyes to see Amy, my head throbbing rhythmically with my heart and the monitors I was plugged up to.

"W-what happened?" I groaned.

"Aaron absorbed your ranger energies enough to knock you out, but the suits protected you from absolute absorption," Amy informed me.

"How'd your training go?" Jay asked her, also sitting up from his medical bed.

"Amazingly," she said, "with any luck, I should be able to kick Gabriel out of Aaron's mind."

"Where is Aaron?"

We all looked up to see Patrick enter the room.

"He's on Earth," Dustin answered. "He's on Mount Imperious, looking for Gabriel."

"Isn't Gabriel dead?" Patrick asked, the irritation in his voice clear. "How many times is this guy going to die?"

I frowned.

"It's not his fault."

"I'm not saying it is, but it sure as hell isn't our fault, either," he answered back solidly.

"Enough," Hunter snapped. "Gabriel is an immediate threat and must be addressed immediately."

"Then do it yourself!" I roared. "I'm tired of carrying on this ridiculous war for people I don't even know!"

"Beth…" Grace whispered.

"No," I shot back, "I'm done. I'll help you guys get Aaron, and then you can find a new Red Ranger."

It didn't matter that I left the room. There was nothing left to say. Not on my part, at least. I had to sit back and watch idly as the man I loved was ravaged by some sick and twisted fate much larger than he'd ever anticipated. Gabriel was a human being at one point. He was flawed but perfect, gentle but firm, and happy but stressed—he was a normal teenage boy. And not once did any of these Eltarians bother to think that.

I bristled slightly as Hunter followed me outside where I stood on the crystalline balcony overlooking the serene night. The nights on Eltar were peculiar, a navy blue haze with distant auroras that danced along the ceilings of heaven like unbound clouds. It was beautiful.

"I'm sorry."

I looked back at him, shocked. "What?"

"I…I've been living as the King of a planet for so long that I'd forgotten what it felt like to have normal problems."

"Normal? How is my problem with Gabriel anywhere near normal?"

"You love him but you can't be with him. That, on any planet, is normal."

I frowned inwardly but said nothing. "Is there a reason you're out here?"

He chuckled slightly at my tone as he leaned against the railing I was leaning on. "I know how you feel, Beth. I know what it feels like to have this immense responsibility thrown on you when you don't want it."

"Yeah, and when's the last time your responsibility asked you to kill someone you loved?"

"When Aaron was born."

I was shocked into silence by that. There were no words that came to mind to reply.

He sighed as he looked out at the horizon, the multicolored stars twinkling happily millions of miles away. "Eltar is very set in its ways. When I became the official Prince of Eltar, the planet resisted me at first. I had grown up on Earth, knew nothing about being Eltarian, and, quite honestly, I wanted nothing to do with the planet. But I sucked it up, and I did my duty." He paused like he was remembering a far off time that played in the back of his mind like a movie. "When Dustin got pregnant, I freaked out. I had no idea what was going on, and no one else did either—human males just…don't get pregnant. We didn't actually know until he was going into labor. I was off fighting Cronus's forces when Aaron was born, but the Eltarian Council was furious."

"Why?" I found myself asking.

"The next Prince of Eltar has to be exceedingly powerful, focused, and…Eltarian. Usually, when Eltarians mate with other aliens, the Eltarian genes compensate and restructure the DNA to be pure Eltarian. Aaron was going to be the first half-Eltarian."

"Why doesn't human DNA restructure itself to be Eltarian?"

"No one really knows, but a lot of people think it's because the two are so similar. Aaron's birth in and of itself was never supposed to happen—he was never supposed to be born. And when he was, the Council ordered him killed."

"What the hell is with the planet and killing people for being different?"

"It's not that he was different," Hunter defended, "it's that he's dangerous."

I cocked an eyebrow. "Aaron is probably one of the least dangerous people I know. The guy wouldn't step on an ant."

He laughed, "That's Dustin's doing, for sure. But when Aaron was born, the Council feared his instability. Human emotions are much more uncontrolled and sporadic than Eltarians, and with that kind of emotion behind the power of an Eltarian…he could very well have destroyed everything my people have worked for."

"He was a baby!" I half-yelled. "What kind of planet executes a baby for what he could become?"

"My planet," he answered sadly, and I saw the emotion behind his electric blue eyes. "A planet I hardly knew was sentencing my infant son to death. Not only because he was dangerous, but also because they didn't approve of having a non-pure Eltarian rule their planet."

"That's sick," I spat. "I'm sorry, but what the hell makes this planet so great?"

He shrugged. "It's a lot to explain and a lot to understand, I know. But Eltar has done phenomenal things for the universe—it's just that sometimes, all that power can go to your head. It can cloud your ability to relate to issues less severe or large-scale as your own, you know?"

I remained silent.

"Okay, for example: I'm sure your friends at Berkeley have tried to complain to you about their homework loads, or their boyfriend issues, or whatever else is 'going wrong' in their lives, and I bet it irritates the shit out of you."

I grinned faintly.

"But that's really not their fault—that is important to them. It's their perspective. Just like you and Jane Doe may have different perspectives on the importance of homework, you and I have different perspectives on Gabriel."

My grin immediately disappeared. "The difference is that you want Gabriel destroyed."

"No," he said firmly, "I don't. I want The Angel destroyed. But The Angel has taken over Gabriel, and to be honest…I have no idea if Gabriel is even still in existence. From what I can tell…he's just The Angel."

"I disagree."

"So do I."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "You're not making any sense."

"As unbelievable as it may sound…I'm an optimist. I'm also a humanitarian. Eltarians think human beings are so primitive and incapable of overcoming insurmountable odds; but I know that's not true. I've seen humans do amazing things that would make Eltarians look bad—and one of the strongest things a human possesses is his or her mind. If you think Gabriel is in there…bring him back. It can be done."

—44—

I stepped quietly over the vines of Mount Imperious as I tried my best to keep quiet. The rest of the Cyber Squad, minus Aaron, followed me stealthily, but I had a feeling we weren't going to be able to sneak up on our target.

"He's heading to the Throne Room," Amy said, massaging her forehead.

"Alright, once we get inside, no one engage him. I'll use GaiaTech to bring him down as gently as possible, then we take him back to Eltar."

They nodded silently as we made our way up to the throne room in the highest spire of Mount Imperious. Ten minutes later, we could hear him angrily talking about everything and nothing.

"Don't try to stop me," he was saying. "I will destroy him and bring this war to an end."

"What do we do now? He's way too powerful for even GaiaTech to make a dent," Patrick noted.

"We'll just have to see about that," I said back quietly. "Aaron!"

"Don't try to stop me," he said flatly.

"Aaron, listen to me," I tried again. "You need to come back to Eltar with us."

"Why? So they can try to kill me? So they can lock me up and confuse me even more?"

I risked a glance at Patrick. I had no clue what he was talking about, except what Hunter had told me.

"Aaron," Patrick said, "Aaron it's me; it's Patrick."

"I know."

A violent whirlwind of light energy was spiraling around him as he sat in the middle of the room, seemingly meditating.

"You know who I am?"

"Of course I know who you are."

"Then what are you doing here? Why aren't you back on Eltar with us?"

"My Empathy…it drove me insane. I'm sorry for attacking you."

We exchanged looks with each other.

"Dude, why are we in this creepy-ass old place?" Jay asked, speaking to Aaron normally.

But something was off. I could tell.

"He's here."

"Gabriel?" I asked.

"He's coming up the mountain. You should leave."

"I'm not leaving," I said boldly. "We can do this another way."

"There is no other way!" he roared. "He will pay with every ounce of life he has inside him. I will make sure of that."

"Aaron, what's wrong with you?" I demanded. "You've never been a vengeful person. Why now?"

"He killed my unborn child, threatened to destroy my home planet…and he's tortured us for years. Do you really think he deserves nothing?"

"He's a person! Killing him isn't the answer!"

"Funny, no one seemed to show me that mercy."

"What the fuck are you talking about, dude?" Matt finally asked.

"They split me in half! They tore my mind to shreds and sent me to be a normal human on Earth when I am destined for so much greater!"

The aura around him grew dangerously, growing into a monstrous pyre that was lashing out at us.

"Aaron, let us help you!" Patrick shouted over the commotion of his ex-boyfriend's energy.

"I don't need your help!"

He floated off the ground, into the air like he was hanging from a lifeline. He spread his arms, put his legs together, and summoned more energy from within himself. A field of lightning began to build up around his glowing form, and the fiery aura he'd absorbed from Jay licked around his arms and legs harmlessly. Beneath my very feet, the ground seemed to cry out in pain as Aaron misused its power, creating fissures meters deep without even flexing a finger.

"What's—happening?" Matt screamed, barely audible above the chaos of Aaron's powers.

"I don't know!" Grace yelled back.

Then, impossibly, everything stopped. The lightning hung still in the air, the slashes of wind stiffened like razor sharp feathers caught in a time lock, and the tongues of white flames remained frozen with the other elements. Aaron exhaled, and a burst of shadow energy swept over every other element as the coalescence of energy poured into his body silently.

"I am…Orion."

We remained silent as we stared in awe, Aaron's mid-length hair standing on end and his brilliant Eltarian eyes cold and calculating. Where the blacks of pupils should have been, white gaps had taken over. And in the flecks of color in his eyes, I saw every one of our ranger colors refracting like some sort of malformed rainbow.

"Beth…" Amy whispered shakily, "you might want to bust out GaiaTech. He's not coming peacefully."

I merely nodded, never taking my eyes off Aaron.

"It doesn't have to be this way, Aaron."

He continued to glare.

"I'm sorry," I sighed as I lifted my morpher and called out "CYBER DIGITIZE—ENERGIZE!"

No sooner had my suit touched my body, did I cry "GAIATECH BATTLEIZER—ONLINE!"

As I stared down my old ex-boyfriend, I couldn't help but feel a sense of nostalgia. I had already fought one White Ranger ex-boyfriend…why did I have to fight another?

"I don't want to hurt you, Beth. Get. Out. Of. My. Way."

"Sorry, big guy," I said, crouching into a fighting position, "but you're gonna have to move me."

And he did.

I rolled to the side and barely dodged a burst of lightning, and then sprung myself into the air so I could survey the area. The other rangers were hanging back cautiously, waiting for me to try to and subdue our true leader. But I wasn't fairing very well, and this vortex of power he was suddenly able to conjure up was making it way harder than it already would have been.

"I don't understand how he has so much power," I harshly whispered to Grace as I recovered from my dodging tactics.

"Even with the Eyr Orion powers, he shouldn't be this powerful," Patrick answered.

"I AM ORION!" Aaron bellowed, floating into the sky to recharge his energy.

But his scream wasn't his own. It was deranged—almost psychotic—and unfocused.

"Who is this 'Orion' guy he keeps claiming to be?" I asked Patrick.

He looked confused.

"And so the true Aaron reveals himself."

Our heads all spun in the direction of the sound, but I didn't need my eyes to know who was speaking.

It was Gabriel.

"What did you do to him?" I spat.

"What, no hello? No apologies for trying to kill me yet again?" he mused.

Patrick glared, but merely stood still. Without his powers, he knew he was no match for Gabriel.

"GABRIEL!" Aaron roared, landing firmly beside me.

"Orion," Gabriel greeted the afflicted Eltarian Prince.

"Aaron, please," I muttered. "Please don't do this."

"I am not Aaron," he said calmly, his eyes resuming their lucid state. "And I am sorry…for this."

I saw it coming, but I couldn't move. I was paralyzed. And Aaron's hand found its way to the center of my chest. Ropes of glowing red energy sprung forth from the ruby gem in the middle of my pectoral guard as my armor and suit began to flicker. I felt the power vanish and Aaron hastily removed his hand, his body now shining vibrantly with the might of the Gaiatech Battleizer.

"No!" Gabriel screamed, trying to rush Orion.

But it was too late.

Aaron thrust his palm out at Gabriel and the resulting shockwave of energy flung us all back into the walls of the enormous throne room. The glass at the domed ceiling rained down upon us like transparent daggers, the light from Aaron's glimmering body refracting beauteously in a thousand rainbows. I slammed my eyes shut and covered my ears immediately as I dove out of the way. An unbearable rush of pure power bombarded the sound barrier as Aaron began to unleash his real power, Mount Imperious seeming to tremble in fear.