Author's Notes: Hi, readers. Here's chapter twenty-three of "Just Away." Zedd and Rita meet Count Dregon and his minions face-to-face in this chapter. Double Face, Gork, and Fact make their first appearances. There will be Ranger and Masked Rider action in the next few chapters. Stay tuned for chapter twenty-four.
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Chapter 23: Arrival/Making Contact
Zedd, Rita, Squatt, Baboo, and Scorpina stood some distance from the Lunar Palace ten minutes later. Scorpina tapped her foot and sighed in much impatience. She grabbed her hair with both hands and gritted her teeth so tightly that it seemed she would break them any second. Squatt and Baboo eyed her carefully.
"Damn it. I wish our guests would land right now," Scorpina shouted and kicked at the ground.
"Patience. They will land in a few minutes later," Rita assured while glancing at her.
"That's what you said five minutes ago, my empress," Scorpina snapped, irritation lining her voice.
"Oh, shut up, Scorpina!" Baboo yelled and shook his finger at her in a disapproving manner. "We are sick of your complaining!"
Scorpina glared at him with a soft snarl. "Hey, you and Squatt complain as much as I do!"
"No, you complain a lot more than we do!" Squatt blurted out while balling his hand into a fist.
"That's right!" Baboo shouted and gave a sharp nod.
Zedd growled and glanced at the trio. "Silence! There will be no more arguing. Do you hear me?"
Scorpina, Squatt, and Baboo raised their hands in surrender before looking away. They whispered inaudible words. Rita giggled, causing Zedd to turn to her.
"You did a good job shutting them up," Rita whispered as she leaned toward him.
"Thank you," Zedd responded and emitted a happy growl.
She smirked. "Don't thank me until I do this."
Rita brought her hand to Zedd's stomach and tickled it. He laughed hard while pushing her hand away. He grabbed her nose. He moved her head from side to side three times. She grabbed his wrist and pulled his hand off. She placed it at his side before giving it a gentle pat.
"It's fun to goof around, isn't it?" Rita asked.
"It sure is, my poisonous flower. It helps to alleviate the boredom of waiting for our guests," Zedd said honestly.
"Sometimes, we get so bored that we send our foot soldiers down to terrorize civilians for the hell of it. It did not matter if they were Putties or Tengas," Rita commented.
"I am sure Count Dregon won't mind doing the same with his Cogwarts. He is just likely to get as bored as we have," Zedd added in much eagerness.
"I believe he has allowed his Plague Patrol to whip the Edenites out of boredom," Rita murmured.
"Maybe he—" Zedd started. He looked up to see the Spiderbase flying above him and the others. "The Spiderbase has entered our airspace!"
"Finally!" Rita yelled excitedly. "Let's go greet Count Dregon and his minions! Don't forget the sack!"
"Of course not!" Zedd said, picking up the sack. "Come on!"
Zedd, Rita, Scorpina, Squatt, and Baboo began walking. The Spiderbase lowered toward the ground. It landed with a slight bounce. They stopped close to it. The mouth opened with a hiss. A ramp extended downward. Dregon, Nefaria, Fact, Gork, and Double Face came down it. Zedd, Rita, Scorpina, Squatt, and Baboo walked up to them as they reached the bottom.
"Welcome to the moon, Count Dregon," Rita squeaked happily and held out her hand. "It is so good to finally meet you in person."
"It is good to meet you in person as well, Rita Repulsa," Dregon responded and shook it. He let go of it. "Here are my friends. This is Nefaria, Fact, Gork, and Double Face."
"It is good to meet all of you," Zedd said.
"The same goes for you, Lord Zedd," Nefaria responded and cleared her throat.
"We look forward to working with all of you," Double Face added.
"We look forward to working with all of you just as much," Baboo said and clapped twice.
"Oh, I should introduce Squatt, Baboo, and Scorpina. I am sure you have seen Goldar, Rito, Motha, and Globbor in my father's Space Skull," Rita said.
"Yes, we have," Nefaria admitted. "It is good to meet your friends, Rita."
"The same goes for you, Nefaria," Scorpina said warmly.
"We can't forget it will be rather dangerous trying to get the Zeo Crystal, the Masked Rider powers, Kimberly, and her baby," Gork said fearfully.
"Oh, shut up, Gork," Double Face snapped.
"Yeah! Shut up!" Fact added with a soft growl.
"No, you shut up!" Gork snarled and flared his nostrils.
"That's enough, you three," Dregon warned and pointed his staff at the trio. "Putting the rivalry with Lord Zedd applies to all of us. No arguing will be tolerated during our alliance with Master Vile. If you argue, you will be punished. Do you hear me?"
"Yes, sir," Double Face responded.
"Yes, sir," Gork added.
"Yes, sir," Fact commented with a nod.
Dregon planted his staff into the ground. Zedd came closer to him and cleared his throat. He couldn't help but chuckle.
"I have to admit you are good at keeping your minions in line," Zedd complimented.
"Thank you, Lord Zedd. I should remind you that working together does not mean we will become best friends," Dregon pointed out matter-of-factly.
"I know," Zedd admitted and tossed the sack to him. He chuckled at his catching it easily. "I want you to feed this food to the Cogwarts. It will put a bit of brawn in their mouths."
"It was Daddy's idea," Rita commented with a big smile on her face. "The Tengas have already had some of it."
"I see," Dregon said and looked at Nefaria. He handed the sack to her. "Nefaria, you are to feed this to the Cogwarts once we get them settled in with the Tengas."
"Of course," Nefaria replied.
"Double Face, Gork, Fact, go get the Cogwarts and our stuff. We need to get settled in at the Lunar Palace," Dregon added.
"Yes, sir," Double Face, Gork, and Face responded in eagerness.
Zedd, Rita, Squatt, Baboo, Scorpina, Dregon, and Nefaria walked toward the palace. Double, Gork, and Fact proceeded to head for the Spiderbase.
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Vile sat in his chair in the Space Skull's throne room an hour later. He had his eye on the screen. Goldar and Rito played paper-rock-and-scissors. Globbor and Motha talked quietly nearby. Goldar and Rito moved their fists up and down three times. The former turned his hand into paper while the latter kept his as it was. He emitted happy laugh.
"Paper covers rock," Goldar said and touched the skeleton's fist.
"You got lucky this time," Rito said as he pointed his finger at him. "I managed to win six times before then."
"Perhaps. At least I won this time," Goldar said as he stood tall and proud.
"Don't get so smug, Goldie," Rito warned and huffed loudly. "When you are not watching, it will bite you on the ass very hard."
"Ha!" Goldar said as he shook his head fast. He crossed his arms and growled in a soft way. "I am not afraid."
"You should be afraid. I am the king of mean," Rito commented in a very gleeful way.
"What you are the king of is being an idiot," Goldar pointed out warmly.
"That is—Hey!" Rito yelled in irritation.
"The truth hurts doesn't it?" Goldar commented as he rubbed his hands together.
"Here is another truth," Rito said and poked him in the shoulder with his finger. "You have a bad temper like my sister does."
"No, I do not," Goldar said with an annoyed growl.
"Yes, you do," Rito insisted. "How many times have you gotten raging mad at Squatt and Baboo for messing up?"
"A lot," Goldar admitted.
"There you have it," Rito responded and laughed to himself. "You admitted you have a bad temper."
"Shut up," Goldar whispered in a firm voice. "Anyway, let's play another round."
"It will be my pleasure," Rito said in much eagerness. "Oh, yes."
Goldar and Rito formed their hands into fists. They moved them up and down four times. The former kept his as it was while the latter turned his into scissors. He chuckled delightfully.
"Rock breaks scissors," Goldar announced and bumped his fist on top of his comrade's finger. He placed his hand at his side. "I win again."
"I have to say I am very impressed with you, Goldar," Rito said with a soft chuckle.
Goldar raised his eyebrows. "I am glad you are impressed with me."
Rito tapped the golden warrior's nose with his finger. "I am glad that you are glad."
Chuckling came out of nowhere. Goldar and Rito winced and looked toward Vile, who had his wand pointing at them. Vile tilted his head before tapping his foot three times.
"I could hear you playing paper-rock-scissors," Vile said and planted his wand into the floor. He tapped it four times before letting out another chuckle. "What an interesting game."
"It is a pretty cool game. It is easy too. All you have to do is move your fist up and down how many times you want. Then you keep it as such to do rock. You lay your hand flat for paper. You keep your index and middle fingers open for scissors," Rito pointed out.
"I overheard Rito won six games in a row. That is very impressive since he loses most of the time," Vile said, standing up.
Rito nodded in agreement. "It sure is. There is something else I want to do."
Goldar growled. "What's that?"
Suddenly, Rito grabbed Goldar in a headlock with a playful laugh. He proceeded to give him a hard noogie. He spoke gibberish before making a funny noise.
"Giving noogies, that's what!" Rito shouted excitedly.
Goldar pulled himself out of the skeleton's grasp. "You little sneak! You will pay for that."
"You will do what, throw me out of the Space Skull?" Rito asked with a wry laugh.
Vile waved his hands in the air. "That's enough. I do not want any more arguing."
"You got that right, Master Vile," a male voice agreed.
Vile turned to the screen to see Dregon and Nefaria on it. He could see they were in the Lunar Palace's throne room. He tried not to chuckle, but he couldn't help himself. Goldar, Rito, Motha, and Globbor glanced toward them.
"Dregon, Nefaria, it is good to see you. I take your trip to the moon went well," Vile suggested.
"Yes, it did," Dregon admitted. "We have already fed the Cogwarts the food Lord Zedd gave us when we got off the Spiderbase. They were actually quite hungry, so they ate it very quickly."
"It will be amazing to see them and the Tengas pulverize Masked Rider and the Power Rangers," Nefaria added, a giggle leaving her mouth.
"Yes, it will," Vile agreed. "I want you and the others to get some well-needed rest. We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow. We will show the Masked Rider and the Power Rangers who is boss in this universe."
"Of course, Master Vile," Dregon responded with a nod.
"We will see you tomorrow," Nefaria added. "Good night. Don't let the bedbugs bite your ass."
Goldar and Rito snickered under their breaths. They stopped when Vile shot them a stern look. They put their hands behind their backs and started whistling. He shifted his attention back to the screen. He held up his wand before rubbing the top of it.
"Good night," Vile said. "Sleep well."
The screen went blank. Globbor and Motha went to their master's side while letting out excited grunts and growls. They clapped three times before putting their hands behind their back.
"I cannot wait until we carry out our attacks against the Masked Rider and the Power Rangers, sir!" Motha blurted out in great delight.
"They will not know what hit them!" Globbor added and curled his hands into very tight fists.
"No, they won't," Vile agreed. "Remember to use teamwork when you capture Ninjor. Is that clear?"
Motha saluted him. "Yes, sir!"
Globbor nodded. "You bet!"
The villains shared an evil laugh. It was so loud that it echoed throughout the Space Skull.