Power Rangers: Public Enemies
Chapter 17: The Carrot Patch
Piedra del Diablo, a prison located within an islet off the coast of Puerto Rico. Maximum Security, located within a heavily fortified locale. No shores to land boats in, entry is possible only via the air. A small heliport is the only entrance, and exit to the prison. A fortress, no, a prison designed to house America's most dangerous enemies. Today, it houses the Power Rangers. Specifically, it houses the Mystic Force (Sans Vida, Udonna, Daggeron and Leanbow), Theo, Lilly, Bella and Arthur.
Rick Johnson signed up for the Army to protect his home country from terrorists. Today, he wears his uniform proudly as he looks over the Power Rangers being marched across the underground hallways of Piedra del Diablo. He looks over at his right for a millisecond, stealing a glance at Amy Richter. He liked Amy, a lot.
Amy Richter signed up for the Army because it was the only way she could pay for college. She didn't really care for anything the Army stood for. For her, the Army was a paycheck she earned. And that paycheck pays for her studies, which is what she truly cares about. She hopes to become a doctor, once she finishes college. She looks ahead of her, and across the orange suited Rangers, she sees her friend, Lawrence Weber.
Lawrence Weber joined the Army to keep the family tradition going. Ever since the great Spanish American war of 1898, there's been a Weber serving in the military. When Lawrence was born, his future was long since decided. Lawrence liked the military, however. He really didn't have a choice.
"Ten-Hut! All prisoners will be taken to the mess hall, to eat their appointed lunch!" Lawrence yells out, commanding the soldiers to direct the Rangers to the mess hall.
"God, why do they have us in chains?" Bella asks Arthur. She gets pushed to the ground for speaking. Arthur, furious about this, attempts to start a fight with the soldier. Five soldiers start beating him with batons.
"Take this one to solitary confinement!" Sgt McCalip commands. "For the love of God, someone sedate this fucker!"
Arthur stops moving, as the sedation shot courses his veins. They take his bloodied body to solitary confinement, where he will be a danger to no one.
"Alright, carrots. Lunch time." the instructor points to dog bowls on the floor. Every Ranger is forced to his or her knees. No one bothers holding back the girls hair. Every Ranger's hands are cuffed, so they couldn't eat with their hands.
"I hate this." Madison says, tears in her eyes. She gets kicked in the behind by a soldier. The kick is enough to knock her out of balance, as she lands face first into her wet ground beef. It was really dog food.
Rick hurried towards Madison. He attempts to pick her up. His instructor glares at him dangerously. "Don't touch the slime, maggot!" Taken aback, Rick steps away.
Lawrence and Amy stood watching the Rangers, guns in their hand. Amy felt disgusted by the idea of forcing people to eat dog food. Lawrence felt that the Rangers deserved this treatment. To him, they were no better than terrorists.
Meanwhile…
"Mack…you ok?" Rose speaks to Mack over the phone.
"Yeah, Rose. They just want me to check out this prison, where they keeping the Rangers." Mack felt a knot in his throat as he said that last part. The helicopter began to make its landing. Mack steps outside.
"No phones." A soldier takes Mack's phone away from him, and hangs it up. Mack began to protest, but remembered where he was. He composes himself best he can.
Back inside the prison…
"Take these maggots back to their cells!" Colonel Howitzer commands all the soldiers. The soldiers pull the Rangers out of the ground. The girls get pulled by the hair, the boys by their shirts. Lawrence escorts Chip to his cell, opens it, and then pushes Chip to the ground. Hard. With the hilt of his gun.
"Aren't you being too hard on these people?" In contrast, Rick merely showed Xander into his cell, seeing no need to push him in.
"No one's here, unless they deserve to be here." Lawrence salutes his superior, as she walks by. "I believe the American Republic knows what she's doing."
"Well, the American Republic thinks it's ok to feed people dog food." Amy leans back against the wall. She didn't push Theo into his cell either.
"America makes no mistakes. We saved the world from the Nazis, from the Germans, and from the Japanese." Lawrence beams with pride. Amy scoffs at Lawrence's ignorance of History. She shakes her head, and walks off.
"Shh, here comes that inspector guy." Rick stands at attention as Mack approaches them. Rick and Lawrence escort Mack around the Prison, as he inspects.
"How're the prisoners treated here?" Mack eyes the prison suspiciously, Every cell was closed tightly, blocked by walls rather than bars. It was like this prison was full of solitary confinement cells.
"We treat them according to protocol, sir." Lawrence answers. Just like he's been trained to do
"I'd like to look inside one of these cells." Mack speaks in an insistent manner.
"Sir, we cannot allow such a thing. For your own safety, we assure you." Lawrence answers once again.
"I worked with these people in the past. I assure you, they are not dangerous." Mack once again speaks in a semi authorities manner. He can tell, Lawrence was unprepared to face such a tone.
"We would like to see the papers that authorize such a thing." Rick spoke out of turn. When Mack looked at him, he knew he said something he shouldn't have.
"General Wade Miles himself authorized me to inspect your treatment of the Power Rangers. Here's the paperwork that proves it." Mack hands Rick the papers. Rick gulps, as he feels the deathly gaze of his superiors.
"Pardon my comrade, he's new." Amy intervenes. Rick still feels nervous over his gaffe. He can tell, he was gonna get yelled at.
Madison, who had heard Mack's voice, rushed to her cell's door. She peered out, but was unable to see anything. However, she knew it was him by the sound of his voice. She thinks of an idea. She begins tapping her cell door, hoping he would listen. She taps in Morse code…
"Well then, allow me to check one of these cells." Mack approaches Theo's cell. However, he stops for a second once he hears Madison's tapping. It was quite loud, very noticeable. He keeps a neutral face, deciphering the message in his head. H-E-L…
"Cut it out!" One of the soldiers knocks on the door with his fist. Mack's eyes bulge out upon realizing the implications of Madison's message.
"I do believe I have seen enough." Mack straightens his suit, and heads for the exit. Though his face remains neutral, his mind races with the possibilities of how the Rangers are doing.
"Rose? Yeah, I just got out of the Piedra. Listen…something fishy is going on in there. I don't know…I think the Government might be mistreating them." Mack's eyes bulge out once he hears his call get cut off. He hears the mechanic voice at the other end of the phone. "This call has been cut off due to National Security issues."
Mack puts his phone back in his jacket. "Take me home." He tells his pilot. In his pocket, he grabs hold of his Tracker…
Meanwhile back at the Piedra…
"This fucking bitch!" One of the soldiers burst Madison's door open, and drags her out by the hair. Madison's painful yells eco across the prison. Chip, Nick and Xander bang on their jail cells, demanding that she be let go. Colonel Howitzer commands his units to detain the three. Bella and Lilly both fear for Madison's safety. Theo resigns himself to his helplessness.
"Mother fucker, stand the fuck down!" A soldier tries to sedate Chip, but finds his shot has been knocked out of his hand by Chip's kicking. He then takes out a can of mace, shakes it, and sprays Chip's face with it. He empties the can on Chips face. His painful yells, however, don't compare to the sheer horror that resonate with Madison's.
"Stop! What the hell are you two doing?" Lawrence attempts to intervene, but is told by his superior to stand down. Amy keeps Rick from attempting to stop his superiors from committing their horrible deed. Rick and Lawrence can only stand there, helpless, as they see their superior officers rape a tearful Madison Rocca.
Lawrence steps outside to the heliport. He peers over to the seaside, and promptly vomits. Everything his family stood for, everything he believed in, was completely destroyed once he saw Colonel Howitzer forcefully insert his penis into Madison's vagina.
Chip lays on the floor, his body in agony, unable to open his eyes. But Chip's mind is only on one thing: Vengeance. He wants to kill the President that called for this useless witch hunt. He wants to kill the beasts that dared to steal Madison's virtue. He wants to brutally murder every last US soldier. He wants to soak his hands with the blood of the traitor that dared to sell them out: Mackenzie Hartford. His body twitches on the floor, as his ears echo the screams of a violated Madison.
Madison lay on the floor, naked. She feels numb, unable to move, unable to think, to feel. Rick enters her cell, carrying a blanket. He wraps her up with it.
Rick steps out of her cell. He collapses to the floor, and begins to cry. Amy places a comforting hand on his shoulder. "This is wrong, this is so wrong." Rick knows, he will never get that image out of his head.
A helicopter lands. Three scared soldiers rush out. "We had them! Three Rangers…they just vanished!" Colonel Howitzer commands them to calm down, and explain what had happened.
Jason, Wind and Blaise had been teleported out of the helicopter by Echo's magic. Confronting Kenneth, Ethan and Casey (and after a few good disciplinary punches, courtesy of Jason), Jason states his plan.
"We are going to Piedra del Diablo. That's where they are keeping the Rangers." Jason continues to explain the rest of his plan…
Meanwhile…
"Rose, I don't know what will happen, but…I want you to leave the country." Mack paces around the house He enters the kitchen, and is stunned to find Taylor and Chad there, waiting for him.
"General Miles ordered us to be here." Chad explains.
"Guys… they're being tortured, I'm sure of it." Mack explains his story.
"Let us help you." Taylor offers her hand.
"Rose…" Mack looks at his pleading fiancé. Mack kisses her. "Tomorrow. Tonight…let me have a night with Rose. It's…been a while."
…..
General Wade Miles watches as Alex Schroeder approves more security measure for Piedra del Diablo.
….
Carlos keeps looking at the Crystal in his hand. The Green Crystal of Gaia… Two years ago, this very crystal was one of six to be used to open up a portal to Hell. He still remembers the sight of Mesogog rising out of a pillar of flame, flanked by some of the worst monsters the Rangers have faced throughout their History.
"What does Billy want with this?"