Chapter 6 – A Game Of Deadly Hide And Seek
August 12 2001, Central Silver Hills
The rangers proceeded on foot out of the Clock Tower and ran through the streets towards the battle. Just a few minutes later they snuck past the barricade that the Silver Guardians had set up and they were able to survey the area. A few of the Guardians had engaged some Cyclobots with their blasters, leaving their Captain alone to tackle Venomark. The vampire like mutant was protected by his own platoon of Cyclobots. The rangers watched as an unmorphed Eric use his extensive martial arts knowledge to eliminate several of the robots in quick succession, "He's good", Trip said to the others.
"Shame he's a dick", Katie replied. The others looked at the yellow ranger in shock, "What, you're all thinking it".
When the others didn't counter the yellow ranger's comments, Wes turned his attention back to their reluctant ally. Despite his skill, Eric was slowly getting overwhelmed with sheer numbers. He was engaged with one robot, however, there was another one sneaking up from behind. The red ranger didn't hesitate for a second and immediate pushed past the others. Just as the Cyclobot was about to strike, Wes leapt into the air and knocked it to the ground. Eric finished off his attacker before looking at the fallen Cyclobot and then at Wes. There was a brief standoff before the Quantum Ranger grunted in acknowledgement, "Took your time".
"Thought you preferred to work alone", Wes smirked in response. Eric grumbled but didn't rise to the red ranger's verbal barb. Now that the way was clear, the six then turned their attention towards the mutant. Venomark had a white body and was powerfully built. There were orange patches on his body and his face was fixed with a permanent look of pain and shock.
Jen stepped forward from the group and produced her Time Force badge, "Venomark you're under arrest. Surrender your weapons and come along peacefully".
The mutant laughed and produced a golden coloured sword and blaster, "Now why would I want to do that?"
"They never make it easy", Lucas sighed.
"That's part of the fun", Eric cracked his knuckles.
"Everyone ready", Jen said to the other and they raised their morphers in response, "Time for Time Force", she called.
"Quantum Power", Eric added and the group morphed in a flash of colourful light.
Venomark roared and charged towards the group with his sword drawn. A powerful swing knocked Lucas and Katie to the ground almost immediately. Trip managed to slow down the rampaging mutant by kicking the blaster out of his right hand. The green ranger blocked a blow from the sword but he was too slow to protect himself from a punch to his stomach. He fell to the ground and clutched his stomach, "Careful with this guy", Trip called out, "he's from the X-Vault".
Eric unholstered his weapon and began to charge it up, "What's the X-Vault?" he asked the red and pink rangers.
"High Security", Jen replied, "only the most dangerous mutant were kept there".
Underneath his helmet Eric smiled, "Finally a challenge", he flicked a button on his weapon and it converted into a blade, "Quantum Defender, Sword Mode", he called and charged toward Venomark. The two blades clashed as the mutant and the Quantum Ranger fought for superiority. Eric twisted out of the hold and swung the Defender at Venomark. The mutant countered with a blow of his own. The weapons met in the middle, sending a shower of sparks up into the air.
"Come on lets join him", Wes said to the pink ranger, "Chrono Sabers", he called. Even against five blades, Venomark didn't back down and kept on attacking. He blocked a series of blows from Wes and countered with a blow to the knees and temporarily halted the red ranger. Eric reluctantly came to Wes's rescue but even he wasn't able to hold the mutant back for long. Venomark raked his sword down the Quantum Ranger's chest, knocking him to the ground.
"That's far enough Venomark", Jen stated through gritted teeth. She charged up her swords and leapt into the air, "Time Strike", with a swing of her arms a wave of pink ranger flew towards the mutant. To her shock Venomark intercepted it with his own blade and deflected it into a nearby building. Rubble rained down on the street below, scattered a few of the Silver Guardians that were in the area.
"Nice try pinkie", Venomark taunted, "now try this on for size". He ran his hands down his blade before firing a bolt of white energy towards the pink ranger. She tried to block it with her Chrono Sabers but the blast was too powerful and she was knocked to the ground. The Chrono Sabers fell out of her grasp and Jen tried desperately to get them back. She clawed her way towards her fallen weapons but they were kicked away by Venomark at the last second, "I don't think so", the mutant said, grabbing Jen by the neck and lifting her into the air, "I'm going to enjoy this".
Jen closed her eyes as Venomark's mouth got nearer to her neck. She braced herself for the bite but fortunately it never came. The pink ranger felt the heat of laser fire as a powerful blast took both her and Venomark to the ground. She turned her head slightly and noticed the blue, green and yellow rangers standing tall with their Vector Weapons in hand, "Hey ugly, it'll take more than that to keep us down", Katie bellowed as she rested her weapon on her shoulder.
Venomark lumbered to his feet and grabbed his fallen blaster, "We'll see about that", he replied and began to charge his weapon.
"Wes quickly, the Vortex Blaster", Jen said to the red ranger, summoning her Vector Weapon in the process. Once Wes was on position the team blaster was assembled, just as Venomark discharged his own weapon. The two blasts met in the middle and to everyone's shock, they neutralised each other.
"I don't believe it, what's it going to take to keep this guy down", Trip sighed, "is there enough charge left in the Blaster", he asked Wes.
"Just about but we've only got one shot so let's make it count", the red ranger replied.
"That pea shooter's no match for me", the mutant boasted and prepared to fire again. He was about to pull the trigger when a blast knocked both his blaster and sword out of his hand.
The mutant looked around and spotted Quantum Ranger posing with his weapon, "You're welcome", Eric called over to the other rangers.
Wes gave the Quantum Ranger a nod, "Vortex Blaster, Fire", and the rangers unleashed a powerful burst that struck the mutant directly in the chest. He fell to the ground with smoke pouring from his chest. Unfortunately for the team he wasn't going to stay down for long as he pulled a small patch on his leg. Moments later Venomark began to grow and he towered over the city, "Man I hate it when that happens", Wes groaned.
The red ranger was about to call for the Time Force Megazord when Eric stopped, "I've got this one", he loosened his shoulders and brought his morpher up to his mouth, "Q-Rex, arise".
The sound of heavy footsteps announced the imminent arrival of the Quantasaurus Rex and the robotic dinosaur immediately leapt into battle. He grabbed Venomark by the arm and bit down hard, drawing a cry of pain from the mutant. Venomark wasn't going to be deterred and stopped the Q-Rex's next attack by grabbing it around the head. He threw the Zord to the ground like it was nothing, "Are you sure you can handle your zord this time Eric", Lucas teased, referencing the numerous occasions when it had gone out of control.
"Just leave this to me", Eric replied dismissively, "I can't stand back seat driver's". He turned towards the Q-Rex and shouted out another instruction, "Q-Rex, Warrior Mode".
The rangers watched from the ground as the Zord began to change until it was humanoid in shape. In this mode the Q-Rex had a much easier time battling Venomark, "I'll admit, it's nice to watch this from a safe distance for once", Katie said to the others. The Q-Rex unleashed a powerful punch against the giant mutant.
"Q-Rex, Max Blizzard", Eric instructed his Zord to unleash its final attack. The Q-Rex sent a powerful wave of energy that the mutant had no way to block. Venomark felt his energy drain away and he began to shrink in size. Now cryogenically frozen and a fraction of his normal size, the dangerous mutant hit the ground with a thud.
The rangers demorphed and approached the fallen Venomark. Once again Jen retrieved her badge and used it to seal the mutant away, "That's one more mutant back where he belongs". She stood up and turned towards the Quantum Ranger, "Thanks for the assistance Eric, I thought we worked well together".
"Yeah just don't get used to it", he replied and began to walk away, "I suppose you guys weren't so bad either".
"Why that little..", Lucas began to say.
Wes though cut her off by placed a hand across his chest, "Actually that's high praise coming from Eric, trust me", he smiled.
They were about to return to the Clock Tower when they noticed that Eric had stopped. He had flipped his headset down and was engaged in an animated conversation with someone. Moments later he moved his headset up and turned around, "Wes, I think you need to come with me", he said.
The red ranger frowned, "Why what's happened?"
"It's your father", Eric began, "there was an attack at BioLab, he's been rushed to hospital".
Silver Hills General
An hour later Jen, Lucas, Katie and Trip were sitting on some uncomfortable plastic seats in a waiting area at the hospital. Eric was also there but he was guarding the entrance to Mr Collins's private room. The Quantum Ranger had filled them in on some details on the way to the hospital. Ransik had found out that BioLab had manufactured the serum that cured the Venomark Virus. He broke into the facility to steal the stockpile for himself. There was a brief scuffle that resulted in Mr Collins being rushed to hospital with serious injuries.
"I hate hospitals", Jen groaned, "brings back bad memories".
"Poor Wes, first we get sick and now his father's injured", Trip added.
"Yeah it's been a pretty crappy week for him", Lucas said without adverting his gaze from an attractive nurse that was seated behind a desk. The young nurse gave the blue ranger a shy smile and he winked in response.
"Seriously, is that appropriate", Katie hissed under her breath. All of the ranger's attention was suddenly drawn towards two suited men that walked past them and tried to gain access to Mr Collins's room. There was a brief discussion but they were given a very firm no by Eric and they quickly left again without saying another word.
"Who were those guys?" Jen asked the Quantum Ranger.
Eric sighed, "That's classified", he grunted.
"Yeah well so are we", Lucas countered.
The Quantum Ranger grumbled under his breath, "Fine, they're some suits from BioLab. They wanted to discuss something with Wes but I told them to come back another time".
Just then the door opened and a shell shocked Wes walked out with a doctor. The man in the white coat gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder and walked away down the corridor, "Well what did the doctor say?" Trip asked.
Wes paused for a moment and wrung his hands together, "His injuries are serious and they don't think there's anything they can do for him". He took a couple of moments to gather himself, "They said it's a miracle he even survived but it's only a matter of time until he passes".
The rangers were immediately on their feet and gathered around Wes. Jen snaked her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a tight hug. The pair held each other for a few moments as everyone expressed their sympathies. Even Eric grasped his shoulder in support for a few moments, "I know this isn't the time but the BioLab suits want to hold an emergency meeting", the Quantum Ranger began, "I told them politely to remove themselves from my presence".
Wes turned around as Jen slowly released her grip but the red ranger still held her around the waist, "I don't think you told them politely Eric but thanks for letting me know". He took a deep breath, "I probably should get this over with".
"Wes you don't have to go now", Jen pleaded with him.
"It's alright I know what they're going to say", he began, "they're going to appoint a temporary CEO".
The others looked amongst themselves in confusion, "Who?" Katie asked.
"Me", Wes sighed, "I'm my father's appointed successor". The red ranger gazed towards the ground, he left home to try and avoid becoming BioLab's new CEO. Sadly it didn't look like he was going to be able to change his destiny after all.
A/N – Should've named this story "Wes Collins has a very bad week". The answers to my Easter Egg questions were: January 4 is Erin Cahill's date of birth and the song was Wanted Dead or Alive by Bon Jovi. Gold stars to anyone who got that.