Chapter Seven:
Removal
"There it is," Gordon said. "The North Pole."
Rio went to the window and looked out on the vast, barren landscape below to see the ruins of a crumbled structure just ahead. Doctor Kuchar joined him, looking seriously at the castle.
"Just like we left it," he said.
Commander Roberts squinted at the ruins skeptically. "And you're sure it wasn't destroyed in the battle?" he said, looking back at Ivan.
Ivan smirked. "Positive," he said. "We found it while scouting the area after the Fuhrer's death."
Roberts sniffed.
The Sky Ace slowed as it approached the ruins, slowly descending and lowering its ramp. "Alright," Roberts said as they came to a landing. "Let's make this quick."
He tapped his security card against Ivan's cell to open it. He slapped a heavy cuff on Ivan's left arm. "I want no funny business. This will give you quite the shock if you do try something."
Ivan gave the commander a simpering smile. "I wouldn't dream of trying anything," he said.
The commander and Ivan led the way down the ramp and out into the ruins. Rio, Gordon, and Doctor Kuchar followed, bundling up against the cold. A deep chill blew through Rio the moment he stepped into the open air, making the glow emanating from his skin brighten, warming him in response. At least there was one positive to having this thing inside him.
He let out a long misty breath as he looked around the rubble. He could remember, clear as day, the news report years before, recounting the battle that had taken place here, an army of aliens emerging from a portal, the Power Rangers stopping them and destroying the portal in the process, the Fuhrer transforming into a giant alien monster.
Ivan sneered at the sight. "Come on," he said. "It's right over here."
He led them to a small tunnel leading down under the rubble, pushing aside a large chunk of ice. Rio followed Ivan and the rest of the team down a short staircase and into a long passageway lined with carvings similar to those he'd seen in the cave the light came from, except these showed a race of glowing beings with gemstones at their chests greeting hundreds of different alien species.
"Wasn't this castle built by the good aliens?" he asked. The group looked back at him. "I mean, the other ones . . . the not-Vader Clan ones."
Ivan scoffed. "Good aliens," he muttered.
Doctor Kuchar looked at the carvings on the wall with a little more reverence. "That's right," he said. "The Pink Ranger and the Fuhrer both called them the Denji, a race of advanced peaceful people who built a portal through which they could visit any other planet in an instant. One race they visited was the Vader Clan. The Denji built the device for peace and for learning, but the Vader Clan saw it only for power. They slaughtered the Denji and tried to take the portal from them. In order to stop them, the last survivor sent the five gems that powered the device through to Earth, shutting down the portal and making it unable to be opened except from this side."
"If this is not a Vader Clan structure," Commander Roberts asked, "why would there be a Vader Clan sanctum inside of it?"
He glanced at Ivan skeptically. Ivan looked back and him and shrugged. "I'm sure the Fuhrer had his ways." He stopped at one stretch of the wall, where a misshapen skull with two bladed horns was carved into it. "Here we are."
He pressed his hand against it, and the wall started to shift and change, black and purple roots and branches spreading from beneath his hand and out until they framed a new tunnel that had appeared in the wall.
"Going down," Ivan said, stepping in and leading them inside.
Rio and the team followed him down into the tunnel, its walls made of black and purple membranes instead of the bluish-white stones outside. "The Fuhrer had one of these inside every base," Ivan explained. "Only he and his Inner Circle could activate them, or even knew what to look for. Most of them were simply secret meeting rooms, but this one—"
He reached the bottom of the staircase as the tunnel opened up into a large, cavernous laboratory full of alien technology Rio could barely identify.
"This one is clearly where he kept all of his secrets."
Doctor Kuchar stared in amazement, stepping past Ivan and into the room. Gordon and Commander Roberts both looked more apprehensive. "Are we sure the Fuhrer didn't leave any eggs behind or anything?" the commander asked.
"He was the only member of his species on the planet for thousands of years," Gordon said.
"We don't know his biology."
Rio's eyes fell on a strange round orb in the center of the room, with some technology visible through its clear shell, and long spikes like syringes sticking out. Before he could stop himself, his hand raised on its own and touched the end of one syringe.
"Rio, don't—"
The orb sprang to life at his touch, the gears inside whirring and shifting. The very life-like image of the Black Cross Fuhrer appeared in the air before Rio, its large red eyes glaring into Rio's own.
"The Fuhrer!" Commander Roberts shouted, drawing his gun. Rio jumped back as Gordon's hand went straight to his morpher.
The Fuhrer spread his hands, his gray alien face tilting and his glowing red eyes piercing Rio's very soul. "Welcome, Shinebearer," he said in his soft voice. "If you are viewing this message, then I have ultimately failed in my mission and am now dead, meaning that the Shine has activated."
Rio and the group looked at each other. "Shine?" Gordon asked.
Doctor Kuchar stepped up beside Rio cautiously. "What is the Shine?" he asked.
The image of the Fuhrer flickered slightly as it turned its head to face the doctor. "The Shine is a powerful weapon of Vader Clan design. It was sent to this planet with me, as a failsafe against my untimely demise. It was programmed to activate upon my death, to bond itself to the nearest living creature it could find and send a signal into space, to be picked up by a scout ship sent to scour the universe for the physical location of this planet."
"And how do we extract it?" Commander Roberts asked, stepping up behind Rio. "From its . . . living host."
The Fuhrer gestured with one hand back at the small orb he was being projected from. "This device is programmed to extract the Shine and contain it for future use. But be warned, the process of its removal will drain the host of its life force. This won't be a problem for any Vader Clan, like me, thanks to our longevity, but these humans are weak and frail. The process will likely prove fatal."
Fatal?
Rio's heart sank. He looked at his hand, at the glow still emanating from within.
"Is there any other way to remove it?" Gordon asked.
The Fuhrer flickered again. "The captain of the scout ship has the ability to remove it personally," he said. "But the risks to the host remain the same."
"So, I either keep it inside me, and run forever until he catches me," Rio said, "stay here and let him take it, or sacrifice myself so that it can possibly be contained and hidden from him forever."
He felt Gordon's hand on his shoulder. "You don't have to do this, Rio," the ranger said. "We can figure something out."
Rio looked up at him. "If I do this," he said. "Will you promise me that you will find Princess Tomas, and Yoselin, and make sure they are both safe and taken care of?"
Gordon looked taken aback. He stared at Rio, seeing the serious look on his face. He scowled and nodded. "I promise," he said.
Commander Roberts looked between them. "Now, hang on," he said. "Surely, there's something we can do. We have the technology now. We can have a team of scientists study it, figure out how to make it work without sacrificing anyone. Doctor Kuchar, surely you can—"
"He probably could," Ivan said, interrupting. "If we weren't being pursued by a bloodthirsty alien determined to get his hands on it, backed up by his own personal army. If we're going to do something, it has to be now."
Doctor Kuchar glared at Ivan, his mustache bristling. He let out a long breath. "He's right," he said. "It has to be now." The doctor looked up at Rio. "It's your choice, my boy," he said. "It's your life."
Rio looked down. He remembered the match, so many months ago, when he'd been given the choice to accept the money and throw the match, or to take a stand and accept whatever consequences followed, even his own death. He clenched his fist and took a deep breath.
"I'll do it," he said. He turned to Commander Roberts. "Once it's out, it needs to be locked up safe."
Commander Roberts nodded. "It will be," he said.
Rio stepped up to the Fuhrer's image. "I'm ready. How do we do it?"
The Fuhrer smiled. "Stand firm," he said. His image disappeared and the small orb moved forward, its little gears whirring, all the little needle syringes moving around its surface until they pointed at Rio's chest. Rio closed his eyes, feeling his companions moving closer to him. The orb moved forward, its syringes plunging deeply into his ribcage.
Rio let out a scream of agony as the most intense pain he'd ever felt ripped through him. He watched as the light inside him drained from his arms and legs, all of it pooling in his chest. He stumbled as he felt his strength draining and felt three sets of hands reach out and prop him up. As the light traveled down the long thin tubes into the main sphere, Rio's muscular arms grew thinner and thinner, atrophying until it looked like he hadn't worked out a day in his life, the skin turning slightly gray. His face and body started to lose definition as well, and soon, he looked like a mere skeleton with dry skin stretched across it.
Finally, it was over. All the light had left Rio's body, swirling inside the tiny sphere. The syringes ripped themselves from Rio's chest, leaving behind deep puncture wounds. He staggered for a moment before falling over. His companions caught him and lowered him to the ground. Doctor Kuchar pulled out some equipment and started scanning him.
"How is he?" Gordon asked.
"He's failing fast," the doctor said. "All of his vitals are dangerously low and not getting any better. Him being as strong as he was is the only reason he's still alive now."
Rio stared up at them, his mind swimming. He tried to say something, but his mouth barely moved, the muscles there were so weak.
"Can't we do anything?" Gordon asked.
Doctor Kuchar looked down at Rio, his face serious. "There is one thing," he suggested. He looked up at Commander Roberts.
Commander Roberts looked back at him in surprise. "The ranger enhancements?" he said. "On—? But, there are protocols, and candidates to be—"
He stopped and looked down at Rio's frail body. He clenched his fist and closed his eyes. "Do it," he said. "I'll clear it with EAGLE."
"Gordon," Doctor Kuchar said.
"Got it." The red ranger crouched over Rio's body, sweeping his arms under him and lifting him up like he weighed nothing. "Come on, Rio," he said. "Hang in there just a little longer."
He started to cross the room, when they heard Doctor Kuchar shout, "Ivan! What are you doing?"
Gordon turned and Rio could see Ivan Callahan standing beside the orb containing the Shine. His fingers touched it and light instantly filled his body, restoring vitality he hadn't had since his battle at the U.N. building.
"Well, would you look at that," he said, grasping the orb, still filled with light. "Seems anyone can make use of your power now."
Commander Roberts drew a small control from his pocket. "Drop it, Ivan!" he shouted. "Now!"
He pressed the button on the control, and Ivan's shackle lit up, shooting electricity up his arm. Ivan looked down at the device in amusement, focusing on it and causing light to circulate beneath it, growing brighter and brighter until, finally, the device burst from his arm, a thousand pieces flying everywhere.
"That's better," he said, wriggling his wrist freely. He looked up at Roberts, clutching the small device in his hand and blasting him in the chest with a burst of light.
"Gordon, run!" Doctor Kuchar shouted. "Get Rio back to the ship—"
A burst of light caught the doctor in the chest as well, throwing him backwards. Gordon turned, clutching Rio's body tightly. He had barely moved two feet before Ivan blocked his way, moving far faster than seemed humanly possible.
"Oh, I like this," Ivan said. "It's even better than Kuchar's nanites."
Gordon stepped back. "What are you doing, Ivan?" he said.
Ivan smiled. "Well, first I'm going to take my revenge on the four of you here," he said. "Then I plan to wipe those filthy aliens off the face of the Earth. After that, well, we'll see."