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Chapter 17
Kira sighed as she paced the cell. When she had woken up that morning, she had found an extra blanket over her and food on a tray by the door. She had no idea how long she had been awake or what time it was and she had long become bored. She had taken to singing as she paced the cell, trying out different lyrics and melodies and getting annoyed that she couldn't write anything down.
"Do you ever shut up?" A voice growled, making her jump and spin to see Zeltrax stood outside of her cell. "Or do you spend all day making noise."
"It's not like I have anything else to do." She snapped back. She shivered and pulled the two blankets tighter around her.
"You're cold." Zeltrax said, making her frown slightly.
"Kinda. I can't really regulate my body temperature at the minute." She replied as she sat down.
"I can find more blankets." He said, not moving from where he stood.
"If I didn't know better, I'd say you cared." She said with a teasing tone and a slight smirk, trying not to laugh as he practically growled at her. "I don't need any more. I'll warm up eventually."
"I don't like your attitude." He snapped, making her smirk widen.
"You said." She replied. "But I'm a Yellow Ranger. The attitude comes with the colour. You don't like it, then let me go."
"Don't you wish you were healthy again?" He asked, making her frown and not answer straight away. "You said before you didn't have energy. And you are cold a lot. Don't you wish you weren't ill?"
"All the time." She said. "But I don't like to dwell on that. I can't change that I'm going through it, but I can change what I think and how I react to it. I like to think that I'm going to come out of this stronger than I was before." Zeltrax didn't say anything for a minute before silently turning and leaving the room, leaving Kira staring after him in shock.
Kira sighed as she lay down, fighting off a yawn. She stared at the ceiling as she began to sing again, half expecting Zeltrax to storm in and shout at her. She didn't know how long she had been laying there before the door opened again and Zeltrax stormed in, opening the door to her cell as she sat up. He walked over to her and grabbed her arm, pulling her up and dragging her out of the cell as she tried to keep herself on her feet, pulling her silver bracelet off her arm and throwing it back into the cell.
"Hey!" She exclaimed as he dragged her through the fortress. "Where are you taking me?" He didn't respond, only dragged her through to the main control room and hitting the button to open the Invisiportal network.
"Come on." He growled as he pulled her through a portal. She looked around when they came out and frowned when she didn't recognise the area.
"Where are we?" She asked, only to stumble as Zeltrax started pulling her along by her arm again. He dragged her into a nearby building and pushed her into a room, causing her to trip and fall.
"Get up." He snapped as he walked over her. She pushed herself to her feet and looked around, frowning as she did.
"What is this place?" She asked. The hallway they were in was dark and covered in rubble, scorch marks on the walls showing evidence of a fire. She watched as Zeltrax moved some rubble from a doorway and moved to the side, looking back at her.
"In there." He snapped. Kira frowned, but walked into the room, stepping over some rubble as she looked around. The room looked like a lab, but it was very fire damaged, and it looked like there was some sort of explosion.
"What is this place?" She asked as she looked around, only to freeze as she spotted a photo frame on the floor. She bent down and picked it up, noticing that apart from the broken frame, the picture inside seemed to be undamaged. She frowned as she looked at the picture before looking up at Zeltrax, who she only now realised was holding a strange looking device. "This is you." She said, showing him the photo of him and a woman. "This is the lab you worked in, before you became this, isn't it."
"Yes." He said, putting the device down and walking back to the doorway, moving rubble and blocking the only exit from the room. "And now, it will be your end."
Xxx
Ethan sighed as he looked at the screen in front of him, trying to ignore the sound of Conner pacing behind him.
"Anything yet?" Trent asked from where he sat on the sofa.
"Nothing." Ethan replied, frowning at the screen.
"If your theory is right about Zeltrax taking Kira because she looks like his ex, then what is he planning with her?" Conner asked.
"I haven't figured that out yet." Ethan replied as they heard a noise above them. They looked at the stairs to see Tommy walking down them, looking exhausted and worn. "Hey, how was work."
"Fine." Tommy replied. "Anything?"
"Not yet." Trent said, giving him a smile. "She'll be alright."
"I hope so." He said as Ethan suddenly started typing quickly. "Ethan?"
"How did I miss that?" He mumbled, making them all frown. "The Invisiportal network's open."
"What? When?" Conner asked as they crowded around the computer.
"About 30 minutes ago." Ethan replied. "I've found a portal not far away. We can get to the Island."
"Tommy, you and Trent take your ATVs and go through the portal. See if you can find Kira. Ethan and I will stay here in case Zeltrax decides to attack." Conner said. Tommy and Trent nodded to each other as they morphed and jumped on their ATVs. They sped out of the lab and towards the location Ethan sent them.
"Tommy, what are we going to do if we run into Zeltrax?" Trent asked as they drove.
"I'll turn invisible and you camouflage yourself." Tommy replied. "We find Kira as quickly as we can and get out."
"And if she's hurt?" Trent asked, having a feeling that he didn't want to know what expression Tommy had on his face behind the black helmet.
"Then Zeltrax had better wish we don't run into him. Because if he has hurt Kira, I will kill him." He growled as they reached the location. "Ethan? We're there."
"Opening the portal." Ethan replied through their communicators. The portal opened and Tommy looked at Trent next to him.
"You ready?" He asked, making Trent nod.
"Let's go." They sped through the portal and skidded to a stop in the corridor of the Island Fortress. They both jumped off the ATVs and looked around.
"Is it just me, or does it seem too quiet?" Tommy asked as he looked around.
"The cells are this way." Trent said, beginning to head down the corridor. They hugged the walls as they walked, both looking around and moving precisely in case anything jumped out at them. "Does it seem strange that there aren't any Tyrannodrones around?"
"Very." Tommy murmured. They found the door to the cells and opened it, both freezing when they saw the cell was empty.
"He's taken her somewhere." Trent said as Tommy walked into the cell. Tommy looked around and spotted the two blankets on the bench. "Do you think Ethan can track her gem?"
"He could, but it won't be much use." Tommy said as he bent down and picked something up from the ground, standing up and holding it up to show Trent the silver bracelet with the Yellow DinoGem he had found. "Either she took it off, or Zeltrax did."
"But if he didn't want her Gem, what did he want?" Trent asked. Tommy held the bracelet in his hand as they left the cell, walking through the fortress more.
"The control room is through here, right?" Tommy asked as they stopped outside a door.
"Yeah. What you thinking?" He asked.
"Let's see if Zeltrax left us any clues as to what he's up to." Tommy said as they walked through the door. They took in the fixed consoles and machines in the room and shared looked through their helmets.
"He rebuilt all of this?" Trent asked as Tommy went to a console and started typing. "What's this?" Trent asked as he bent down and picked something out of a bag on the floor. Tommy looked over and froze as he saw an empty IV bag that looked like it contained blood.
"Is that blood?" He asked as Trent looked at the label.
"Looks like it. Why is this here?" He asked, putting the bag back and walking over to Tommy.
"He scanned Kira." Tommy said, making Trent frown. "It looks like she passed out."
"So why did he scan her?" Trent asked.
"I don't know." Tommy replied as he pressed a few buttons and raised his communicator. "Hey Ethan. You there?"
"Yeah, go ahead Tommy." Ethan replied.
"I've disabled the signal jammer that Zeltrax set up. The Island's empty. He's not here, and neither is Kira." Tommy said.
"Ok. Let me see if he opened another portal after the network opened." Ethan replied.
"Tommy, have you any idea why he took Kira?" Conner asked.
"No. He did scan her, but I can't find anything else." Tommy replied.
"Hang on a sec." Trent said, pulling a piece of paper off a console. "Look at this."
"What is it?" Tommy asked as he looked at the paper.
"It looks like they're plans for some sort of device, but I don't know what." Trent replied. They heard Conner groan through their communicators.
"Great. Last time Zeltrax created a device, we ended up in the past!" He grumbled.
"Hey, I found a portal that opened as soon as the network came online." Ethan said. "But it didn't open in Reefside."
"Where was it?" Tommy asked.
"It's just outside of town." Ethan replied, his voice making Tommy and Trent look at each other.
"Ethan? What is it?" Trent asked.
"The portal opened near a condemned building. I'm trying to find what it used to be used for." Ethan said.
"Why is it condemned?" Trent asked.
"And what does condemned mean?" Conner asked, making Tommy roll his eyes.
"It means it's unstable and no one is allowed inside." Ethan said. "And apparently there was an explosion and fire a few years ago." Tommy frowned as he thought for a moment.
"Ethan, is this building on South Road?" He asked.
"Yes. How did you know?" Ethan asked, making Tommy sigh.
"Because that's where the lab was that Smitty worked in." He said, making Trent's eyes widen and Conner and Ethan share a look.
"Why would he take Kira there?" Conner asked.
"He wants revenge." Trent said, making Tommy look at him and frown in his helmet. "Ethan said his girlfriend died in the explosion. And if he believes that it's all your fault…"
"Kira." Tommy breathed.
"We'll meet you there." Conner said before they cut the connection. Trent looked at Tommy and put a hand on his shoulder.
"We'll get her." He said with a nod, making Tommy nod back.
"Let's go."